Hackers of the Eternal Sphere
by Ysavvryl
Summary: 4D is a utopian paradise, free of pain, suffering, war, and even death. So why are these 4D citizens more interested in the virtual flawed world of Expel? SO2 retelling with heavy SO3 influence.
1. Intros  Can't Buy Me Love

**Author's Intro**

I am a huge fan of Star Ocean 2. I've played it so many times that I've started replaying just to get endings for crack pairings. So of course I would turn to making a fanfic at one point. I've got this little (hah!) retelling to give you to read.

I played and beat Star Ocean 3; while I liked it, it doesn't get me as absorbed as SO2. When I go onto message boards and discussion sites, lots of people seem to dislike the big twist about the Eternal Sphere game. They say it cheapened the rest of the series. I rather liked the twist myself; it wasn't that bad. Plus, it gave me the idea for this fic. Because just maybe, it can enhance the other SO entries instead.

This fanfic should be considered AU, because it messes with events, ages, causes/effects, and some story paths. I've done my best not to mess with the characters too much, but I elaborate on backgrounds or make them up if there's practically nothing there. It involves some inevitable shipping, Spore references, and bad singing. It uses the PS1 names, as that's the reference I have on hand.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy Hackers of the Eternal Sphere! Tell your friends!

**Historical Intro**

There was war in the galaxy, massive violent war where whole planets were rendered unfit for life. Under this chaos, madness flourished and continued the reign of war. It lasted for a thousand years, until there were only the victors left. The soldiers came home to celebrate and rest, but discovered that one of their foes had left a vengeful present behind. Much of the army and many of the civilians were left dead. As their own home world was nothing but dust, the survivors were exhausted from the violence. That was enough, they declared. They wanted war no more.

And so they got rid of all the trappings of war. Using their technology, they eliminated all weapons and suffering. They built a new world, a completely safe and peaceful world, and called it the Fourth Delrina, or 4D. They stopped all uncertainty in their galaxy, leading to no more meteor showers, no more dangerous cosmic radiation storms, no more black holes, no more supernovas, and most of all, no more threat of the end of the universe. They even eliminated death, as well as perfected the genes of the population and providing the option to 'start over' with a new body and fresh memory. At long last, they had achieved utopia.

But the path to sentience includes a desire to compete. No matter how much the 4D residents tried, they could not erase competitiveness and the draw to violence to move ahead. As much of the work was done automatically now, jobs because scarce and a symbol of pride instead of drudgery. To solve this, the 4D residents developed outlets for this competitiveness. The most effective were immersion games, and the most successful immersion game was called the Eternal Sphere.

This is the story of some of the players of the Eternal Sphere and their adventures in the star ocean that was still vibrant with life.

**Pirate Hacker Intro**

Only the vastness of space can hold the myriad of dreams of trillions of intelligent beings…

The vastness that stretched unthinkably wide, to where even the brightest of stars could not completely cast their light to the edges of the universe.

The Pangalactic Federation covered the Milky Way galaxy, but they knew their galaxy was not the only one. They knew that there were other galaxies out there, sending their light over space and time. However, they had yet to reach those places. They were more focused on achieving peace and balance within their own galaxy before they ventured out to those places. But the dream was still there, built upon from desires to see what was across the lands, across the oceans, across the skies, across the galaxy.

The vast majority of those beings did not know what lay beyond their galaxy. There was a minority that did, though. Not only did they know what lay in those other galaxies, they had made those other galaxies. They had made the Milky Way galaxy. They were the 4D beings, gods and players of the entire universe.

In the empty vastness of space, a group of them were meeting aboard a wooden ship with canvas sails and a skull-and-crossbones flag.

Although the pirate ship seemed to have absolutely no protection from the dangers of space, nobody on board wore any protection. Most of them were dressed rather elaborately, with huge hats, curly wigs, bright overcoats, swirling capes, flashy jewelry, or other showy flairs. They were having a grand time, drinking and chatting. Later, most would agree it was one of their better parties.

Not all of them were pleased with the festivities, though. One in particular resembled a Fellpool, with his furry feline ears, long feline tail, long powder blue hair, and dark blue eyes. He wasn't dressed quite as obnoxiously as the others, in just a frilled shirt, red vest with gold buttons, red pants with gold trim, and black boots. Another thing that set him apart was the fact that he wasn't drunk or getting drunk. Rather, he leaned against the main mast and listened to the chatter around him while sipping some strawberry-flavored soda.

"I think Louta III is going to emerge as the next big thing," a woman in a frilly dress with a hoopskirt said. Despite the attire, she was sitting at a table playing poker with some of the others. "It's struggling a bit to get out of their tribal phase, but the setting has all the makings of a popular planet."

"Sure it's nice, but it doesn't beat the fact that Raiten had dragons," one of the others at the poker game said. He stood out for wearing a western cowboy outfit on this pirate ship. "And not just a singular species, but dozens in just about every element you can think of. I've got insider info that the Sphere Company is considering allowing players to be one of the Raiten dragons. That would be a total win."

"You can just hack yourself control of a dragon anytime you want," the woman said.

"I know, but for the prude crowd, it would be the first time they have access to actual dragons in the Milky Way, not those hybrid dragon-men which have horrid stat spreads."

"I hear Expel is getting fairly popular with the peace-lovers."

The Fellpool's ears pricked up on hearing that planet name. Expel… that was like his secret discovery, a great world that was unnoticed by much of the 4D crowd. To hear that it was getting popular and noticed was a bit sad to him. The Expel crowd was a good bunch, very friendly. The last thing he wanted was for a bunch of warmongering new people coming in the upset the balance.

Getting bored with the chatter, he looked at his near empty bottle, then traced a small crest on it with a fingernail. At first, it went gray as an invalid spell, but he forced it to become valid. The bottle then refilled itself with soda and replaced the cap. Then he stuck it in a small bag at his hip and climbed up the mast's ladder to the crow's nest.

At the top, he looked out at the ocean of stars surrounding them. It really was a lot of black with clusters of stars. But from where they were in relation to the major plane of the Milky Way galaxy, it did seem like an ocean of light sparkles spread out in front of the wooden vessel. Above him, there were clusters of light which indicated other galaxies. Those were other game servers. Some played by the same rules, others didn't.

It was all a game. Some server galaxies were very violent; one in particular, called Redden, was notorious for allowing itself to be completely destroyed by its warlike races, only to restart the whole bloodbath again. In others, a player didn't just play a single character; he or she played a whole species trying to dominate the server galaxy. The Sphere Company, which ran the entire game universe, hadn't yet allowed any server to reach another, except as special events which were strictly controlled.

But was it all just a game?

He noticed when the area around him shifted in a hack teleport. He sighed. "If you really want to be a true leader of hackers, you should work on covering your traces better."

The ship's captain, represented by an avatar of a blond haired man with the uniform of a Pangalactic commodore but the large triangular feathered hat of a pirate, rolled his eyes. "It takes one to know one. Nobody else notices."

He held his ears back. "Don't be so certain of that."

A woman had come up with him. Her avatar had medium blue hair of a nice gloss; she wore a jewel-laden silver and blue dress. "You shouldn't be so paranoid. We programmed this ship to be undetectable to Sphere's security forces."

"Except that it's an antique pirate out in the middle of space and you have an Executioner tracking the ship."

"No we don't," the captain insisted.

Waving his hand, he said, "Tria, bring up the tracker's data." A blur of programming appeared in the middle of the air. "Read it and weep. You've got a security program trying to pin down our location. I've been the one throwing it off, but this is getting ridiculous. You should have noticed it. That is, if you were sober."

He leaned against the edge of the nest to look at the data while the woman with him giggled. But they both clearly had alcohol on their breath. "I thought I had this ship undetectable by programming…" he muttered.

"It's detectable through common sense," the Fellpool hacker said with a slight hiss. "This party tells me that I was right to leave, and now I will stay gone. But I'm not about to get caught on the bad idea of someone else. Tria, my menu."

The browser brought up the game menu, which was normally inaccessible when immersed in the game. He used it to bring up a program which completely erased all data of the pirate ship, at least from his system and what was visible in the Eternal Sphere. To complete the cover-up, he transferred all the partiers onto a Pangalactic ship, to the observation deck.

There were groans and quick complaints about the loss of the stylish ship, but the Fellpool ignored them. He turned to the pirate hacker captain and handed over a data disk. "Accept this. It will transfer ownership of this ship from me to you, as well as give you the background information that makes it look like a legitimate Federation ship. You will have to fix something up to explain the sudden drunken costume party to the drone officers, though."

A bit slow due to the drinking, the captain shifted his large hat before accepting the data disk. "Why're you leading?"

"Leaving," the woman corrected, grabbing the captain's arm.

"I heard why you stepped down as our leader, but leaving for good?"

"You guys are just a bunch of self-absorbed losers," the Fellpool hacker sneered. "You don't consider the consequences of your actions, like with that silly show boat. You're just asking to get caught by the government and I don't want to be caught up in the upheaval of that. Plus, I'm concerned about bigger issues now. Something terrible is happening and no one, not even the Sphere Company, has fully caught on to it like I have. Besides, we need to think of the residents of this universe."

"Residents?" the woman asked. "They're just NPCs."

"They are not just NPCs," he said in a stern voice. "They are not just mindless characters. They are fully sentient beings that deserve to be respected. And I aim to prove this. But you've proven yourself worthless for the purpose."

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the captain shouted. "Giving me a parting gift and then insulting us? You taught a great many of us!"

"I know, and I regret that now." He then vanished.

Moments later, he had all data connecting him to the group and his old ship gone or altered. He wanted no trace to remain that would link him to the others. Now he would just have to be careful about his own memory.

**Chapter 1: Can't Buy Me Love**

-C.J., 4D

Her home was nice, made of a white stone with red ceramic trim. Of course, it wasn't real stone or real ceramics. It was all synthetics constructed to be uniform and safe. It had a charming feel, but it was so hard to decorate sometimes. "Does the carpet have to be so flat?" she asked. "It would look nicer if it was filled out like real carpet."

"It is a real carpet, C.J.," her robotic butler said. "We must keep the tripping hazard to a minimum."

"I know, so no one gets hurt. Are there non-flat options?"

"There are a few." The butler zapped the carpet, then modified it to be a little fuller. C.J. fussed a while until it finally gave her something that resembled a plush rug, although the sloped edges and edging still had that mark of safety.

"That should be fine," she accepted. "Upload pattern," she checked her wristwatch computer to make sure the number was right, "DRD-802874."

"Yes, Ma'am." The robot adjusted the carpet to have a dark red background with a pattern of red, yellow, and cream colored diamonds.

From there, C.J. had her butler adjust her other pieces of furniture. It seemed like she was mostly redecorating her home these days. She used to work at the transport station; it had been something to be proud of. But then her term was up and she had to give the job up to someone else. She still had a lot of time left before she could apply for another job. It was such a bore.

After changing the major pieces of furniture, she gave the decorating up for the time being. The new look was good, but she would have to wait a few days to see if she really liked it. The butler went off to clean up the remade carpet; it would shortly go to make dinner. While the robot butlers never complained if you did their work, they could report repetitive chore doing to the medical network, who would come in to make sure you didn't have an emotional problem. They'd report anything that could be a sign of problems, so that no one suffered. At least for long.

They didn't seem to care about suffering from boredom, though. Unless that was a sign of another problem. C.J. felt jealous of those who had permanent jobs, like those in the medical network. At least they were always doing something important, not just redecorating a house.

But, there was a way she could feel important. C.J. went downstairs to her game room. There was an immersion chair there. Covered in soft black fabric, it had a full back and leg rest. A helmet device would come down over the player's head and connect with the mind in order to fully engage all senses in the ES play. While there were a few straps, just in case of problems, it was really quite comfortable while getting ready for a play session. She set herself in and brought up the menu screen.

_Welcome to the Eternal Sphere, where the limitless universe awaits you!_

_Which profile do you wish to load?_

After noticing that one of the profiles had an alert, she picked that one.

_Planet-Expel_

_Character- Celine Jules_

_Style- dating sim/adventure_

_**Alert!** – This character has planned on attending an auction, which begins in 12:48 minutes. Goals are (1) meet with Chris (2) acquire Old Map of Cross Cave._

_Play as Celine?_

C.J. accepted that profile. The immersion chair pulled the screen aside as the helmet came down over her head. As the chair began to latch onto her arms and legs, she recalled the first time she remembered using the immersion device. Being strapped down like this had spooked her. But like everyone else, she had quickly grown over it. A scent of freesia came to her senses as her mind slipped away from her world and into another.

-Celine, Cross Castle, ballroom

The ballroom of Cross Castle was grand and elegant, with a tiered crystal chandelier, an arched walkway above, polished marble floors, and pretty unicorn statues. However, one couldn't fully appreciate this room today. It was packed with all kinds of people: nobles, businessmen, adventurers, travelers, and even farming peasants. Today they were holding the monthly Royal Auction, when all sorts of rare and unique items could be bought. That is, if you had the fol to pay the bids.

Somewhere in the crowd, there was an elegant sorceress. Maybe not as elegant as others. She was also an adventurer, after all, and ones clothes didn't always stay pristine in wilderness and ancient ruins. Today, she had made sure that her white lace cloak was dust and mud free, that her pink boots were clean. She wore a pink dress that was small, but she didn't mind showing off her Heraldic tattoos. Knowing advanced crest magic as she did was something to be proud of, after all. Topping it off, she had a magician's hat, all pointed and with a halo ring to boot.

One could be proud of a lovely appearance too.

Celine opened her paper fan and stirred up the air some. So many people packed into this place made it warm and stuffy. Beside her, she kept her traveling bag on the bench. Some folks still getting settled gave her a look to remove the bag, which she replied with a look that said she most certainly would not. She was waiting for someone. Hopefully he hadn't gone to their usual place to meet up.

Thankfully, she felt his hand on her shoulder and heard his voice. "Sorry I'm late," he whispered.

Showing a bright smile, she moved her bag to the floor. "It's fine, Chris. I'm glad you made it."

He stepped over the bench and dropped down beside her. The blond-haired man was quite handsome, if oddly naïve. But he did have intelligence enough to keep Celine's notice. Just taking her hand for now, he asked, "How far along is it?"

"Not far enough," she whispered, using her fan to block their words. "They're still on the farming tools, which is why it's packed in here."

"To be with you, I'd go anywhere and endure any boredom," Chris said with a smile and a sparkle of his blue eyes.

Making a soft giggle, Celine playfully swatted her fan at him before going back to keeping them cooler. As the auction went on, the goods became better. Those who couldn't afford those items left when they had gotten what they came for, in order to claim anything won in the next room. Much of it was of no interest to her. Chris' presence did make things more bearable, so that was good.

Finally, they got to the item she wanted. She'd had her eye on it since she'd heard of its discovery a month ago. It being up for auction was something she was grateful for; competition for being a hired explorer would have been tougher to get through. "Next, we have an intriguing map of Cross Cave," the auctioneer announced. "This was discovered among a hermit's collection and it appears to have a previously unrecorded path on it. Bidding begins at a 1000 fol, do we have any takers?"

Celine wanted the item, but she wanted a good price on it. She took her bidder's card off her lap, but didn't hold it up. Besides, what competition did she have?

A decent one, as three cards went up. Chris tightened his grip on her hand. "Didn't you want this?" he whispered.

"Yes, but this is where strategy comes in," she whispered back.

The auctioneer went into full speed mode as the map quickly shot up to 2000 fol. One of the three dropped their card at this point. As it crept up in price, one of the bidders seemed uncertain. When he hesitated, Celine raised her card to claim a bid of 2700. The uncertain one folded, but the other remained strong. The map went over 3500.

"This is going to be a bit pricy," Celine whispered to Chris from behind her fan.

"I can pitch in if you take me into the cave," he offered.

"Would you?"

"Of course. Sounds fun."

Taking that offer, Celine made a signal with her card to bump the price up two levels to 4000. The other bidder wavered, then dropped his card. "And the map goes to the pretty lady with number 55, congratulations. Our next item up for bid," the servants quickly took the map away and replaced it with a pricy looking vase. Celine and Chris got up to go to the other room.

She could afford a 4000 fol price tag, but Chris held strong on his offer and passed over a quarter of it. While he looked over a suit of armor on displace, Celine paid the clerk who was taking care of the items. "Okay, number 55… you have the map of Cross Cave." Once she paid, the brown parchment was handed over to her. "And there you go. Have a good day."

"Thank you," she said. She picked up the map and looked it over. The new passage was apparent to her immediately. From the far eastern part of the caves, it led to what was labeled a treasure room. Just as she'd hoped for! A hermit like the one who had last owned this map wouldn't have claimed a treasure. But what about other explorers? "Chris, look at this," she said.

"Hmm?"

While he looked at it, a maid came into the room. "Something really odd is going on," she told the clerk. "The King has had all audiences postponed so he could meet with a special pair of travelers. But they're only from Arlia, so I don't know what's so special."

"Who is it?" the clerk asked.

"I don't know. It was a girl with blue hair and a handsome young man; he looks almost like the Prince, but he wears such odd clothes and talks in a strange manner."

Although they had been looking at the map, both Celine and Chris had noticed the comment about the two special visitors. A special audience given? What could it mean?

"It is an old map," Chris finally said.

"It's different, though. Let's go." She led the way out of the auction area.

"Say, those special visitors… I wonder who they are. The King wouldn't delay all audiences for no one."

"Especially not some hicks from Arlia," Celine added.

"Well… I heard that the King used to be friends with the mayor of Arlia. That may have something to do with it. Still makes me wonder."

With a mischievous smile, Celine pulled her fan up and whispered, "Do you want to go sneak over and take a peek at them?"

Chris paled a bit, nervously scratching his head. "Well I'd like to know… but we shouldn't get caught."

"We shouldn't get caught if we're quiet and sneaky. Come on, it'll be fun."

"Ah, all right."

Quietly, the couple went upstairs to find the side hall entrance to the King's audience chamber. Chris seemed flustered still, so Celine slipped closer to look and listen. Like the maid said, there was a girl, about sixteen-ish, with short blue hair and a young man, probably in his early twenties, meeting with the King. "Haven't you sent an expedition team to El to scout the area?" the girl asked.

King Cross hesitated a moment, his lips moving partly as he tried to word something carefully. "We have… they have not returned. To be frank, we don't have much information about the state of the continent of Eluria or the Sorcery Globe. We have called for adventurers to form more effective survey teams of Eluria, but without much luck."

"That must have been why we saw so many of them in town," the young man said. Again the maid was right. There was something odd about his speech. Celine couldn't pinpoint what was off; the sound of the words didn't seem right, yet they were clear and understandable. He wore a brown jacket with odd patches sewn onto them, and brown pants. Although she was some distance away, they didn't seem too odd.

"Right," the girl said. She was dressed like a typical country girl, in a blue jumper and small red cape. "We mean to make our own investigation of the Sorcery Globe. We are in earnest, your Highness; this is no adventure. We need a passport to cross over to Eluria, though."

"All efforts to this study are appreciated," the King said. "We would rather you not be involved, Miss Rena. However, Claude here does seem to be a stout and capable young man. Since you are together, we think it would be possible… it would be better if he were better equipped." He made a motion to a guard, who came over to speak quietly.

The guard then came over to the pair. "Here is your passport and some travel money," he said, handing over the documents and a coin sack.

The girl Rena seemed pleased and surprised. "Thank you, your Highness. This helps a lot."

"Now, now, we cannot be stingy when we ask you to carry out such a dangerous task," the King said in a generous tone.

At that, Celine slipped back to avoid notice. Chris was looking out a window while keeping an eye out for a maid, oddly enough. He turned to her when she came back, though. "Who was it?"

"Some adventurers volunteering for the Sorcery Globe investigation," Celine told him. "It sounds exciting… but I don't want to be pulled so far away from you, lovey."

Smiling, he took her hand and walked down the hall with her. "I don't want to be pulled away from you ever, dovey."

They split up for a short while. Chris wanted to get his weapon and armor, so Celine went into town to buy supplies. As she'd been in there before, she knew what to expect. The known passages could take days to get through, so to find an unknown passage, they couldn't be certain of how long it would take. Although it was an endurance test, it wouldn't be too hard for Chris. The poor boy needed to get out of the city anyhow, and Cross Cave would be a decent introduction to adventuring. Not like Salva Drift (easier, but with too much coal dust), Lasguss Mountains (too hard), or Mountain Palace (way too hard)

Besides, it would be the two of them in a vast cave system only visited by adventurers. That might lead to some rather different kind of adventures… Celine suppressed a smile at that. Ladies weren't supposed to think like that. In that case, she considered finding someone else to adventure with. Groups would be safer, and it wouldn't look so bad if someone came upon them.

As she left the open market area in north Cross, she found Chris looking for her. The interesting thing was that he was wearing Lacourian made armor. That much was noticeable by the metal craftsmanship and the lack of protective crests. But it bore the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Cross. With that, she knew that her guess was right: Chris belonged to some noble family of Cross. Only they would have the money to afford a customized Lacour plate mail like that. At his side, he had a high-quality crossbow and a sturdy case for his bolts.

"Are you ready for an adventure?" Celine asked as she took his arm.

He grinned, but still looked nervous. "Yeah. I hope I don't slow you down."

"It's okay. I was just thinking that we might want to find some other adventurers for this trip. It would be better…"

"HEY YOU!" a loud voice called, interrupting the daily flow of pedestrians. "Stop, you witch!"

When they turned, they saw a green-haired man in a dark blue cape. From his shadowed face, they could tell that he was angry, at Celine. "Pardon?" she asked, hiding any agitation. "You say that as if it were an insult."

"And you're a stinking con artist too," the man started ranting. "I saw you fixing the auction for that map; I would've had it if not for your meddling magic. You're going to pay for your cheating ways, but you can spare yourself some agony by handing that map over to me right now."

Chris looked intimidated, but did his best to defend her. "She didn't use any magic in the auction."

"So you're in on it too, you sniveling dainty-fingered coward. A noble's baby like you couldn't survive in the harsh monster nest that is Cross Cave. This saucy seductress is just out to use you and toss you out for the mongrels to eat."

Annoyed by this, Celine was about to give the man a piece of her mind when the two young people from earlier stepped out of the crowd. "Excuse me," the teen girl said, "but you shouldn't be speaking to people in that way."

"You're just making a foolish spectacle of yourself," the young man with her added.

"And just what do YOU intend to do about it?" he snapped at them. "Naïve fools… but the matter at hand is the map which this stinking witch stole!"

With that, Celine figured that this guy was the sort who made a huge fuss whenever he didn't get his own way. One couldn't combat him by yelling back. One had to choose ones words carefully. "That map is the issue, my dear wizard," she stated as calmly as she could manage. "But I have paid for the map in full, using legal methods of doing so. Anyone at the auction could tell you that. Besides, you shouldn't be picking fights with just anyone in the street. It's so vulgar."

"WHAT?! That does it. I'll make you see who's the vulgar one around here!" He brought his hands up and began tracing red lines in the air. Energy, a great amount of it, began to gather to him.

The crowd that had been stopped by the wizard's tantrum started to back off, reasonably frightened. Celine sighed. Such a showoff. She brought her left hand up, palm facing down; the rune tattooed on the back of her hand began to glow red. Within a second, a small fireball appeared under her fingertips. When she flicked her wrist about, the fireball shot at the wizard, interrupting his spell. The two fire magics combined and set his cape aflame. Yelping, he ripped it off and began stomping the flames out. The crowd laughed.

"You…" he growled, but then realized the whole situation had turned on him. "You're going to pay for this." He snatched up his smoldering cape and ran out of Cross.

"Well I hope that taught him a lesson," Celine declared.

"Thanks for standing up to him," Chris said, relaxing now that the wizard was gone. "Especially since you didn't have to do it."

"Oh, it's no trouble," the girl said. "Really, he shouldn't have been so rude."

"Well it was all fabrications he was spouting anyhow," Celine said. The crowd around them had moved on with their daily routines. "Thanks." Then she thought, maybe these two would be good. A tad naïve like Chris, but it couldn't be helped. "Oh, but you two recently had an audience with the King, didn't you?"

"Yes, but how did you know it was us?" the young man said.

"Well we heard that the King was delaying all audiences for a special pair of visitors. We couldn't help ourselves and snuck a peek to see who."

"That's an interesting hobby," the girl said, somewhat amused.

"Now now, there was no harm done. My name is Celine Jules; I'm a treasure hunter. And this is my boyfriend."

"Chris," he said. "I, um, live here."

"Hello," the girl said with a smile. "I'm Rena Lanford, from Arlia."

"I'm Claude Kenni," the young man added. "A traveler. We're heading to Eluria to check out the Sorcery Globe."

"That's a brave deed," Chris said. "Good luck to you."

"Actually, I was thinking about that," Celine interrupted. "You see, Eluria was a decent place to visit, so I heard, at least before the Sorcery Globe fell. Now it's supposed to be incredibly dangerous, with demons thriving."

"We'll be careful," Rena said, although she did look a touch nervous.

Celine came over and patted her shoulder. "Yes, darling, but from the looks of you, maybe you could use some more experience in dangerous places. If you don't mind a teensy little detour, I think I know of a good place where you can make sure your training is enough."

"Really?"

"That would be good, thank you," Claude said.

"Chris and I were headed to Cross Cave for a little exploration," Celine told them. "We're going in to find treasure, but it would be great of you to come with us. I think it would benefit us all in the end."

"So, Cross Cave?" Rena asked, a bit surprised. "I thought it had been fully explored years ago."

"So it's been said, but a new map has been discovered of an unknown passage. We bought it at the auction today. It had been previously owned by a religious hermit, so if this is authentic, then we may find treasures and sights that no one else has claimed! And even if not, we'll all be stronger for the trip. So what do you say? Would you like to come with us?" She also sent a glance to Chris, making sure he was alright with it.

Rena and Claude looked to each other, but seemed to be in agreement. "Sure, thanks for the offer," Claude said. "We were headed for Clik, so I hope it's not too far out of the way."

"It's on the road there, so no problems."

"Celine lovely, you manage to think of everything, don't you?" Chris asked in admiration. "We're glad to have you two along."

She laughed at his words, pleased that it was all going so well.


	2. Wild World

**Chapter 2: Wild World**

-C.J., 4D

There was a knock at C.J.'s door. "It's Dr. Hall, making a house call."

C.J. stiffened at the words, nearly losing the forest painting that she had been hanging on the wall. Afraid of what it meant, but knowing that she shouldn't ignore him, she set the painting on the floor and went to the entry hall. "Come in, Dr. Hall."

On the surface, Dr. Hall seemed like a well-groomed and friendly man. He wore a dark brown shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Only his special name tag identified him as an employee of the medical network. He carried a silver briefcase, holding his computer and medical tools. "Good morning, citizen," he said, giving her a handshake. "You call yourself C.J., correct?"

Feeling her hands get jittery, she replied, "Yes sir. Would you care for a drink? Butler?"

"Water would be fine, thank you." After the robotic butler gave them both a glass of water, they sat down in the living room, C.J. in the armchair and the doctor on the couch. "C.J. you seem to be having some problems with boredom."

"You came here for that?" she asked, puzzled. She knew psychologists came when one was upset or overly angry. But not bored.

"A restless mind shows a need for novelty and change," he replied. "Leaving one to be bored for too long leads to troubles that would not occur otherwise. We have recently decided to act on this, assisting those who feel a lack of interest in ongoing activities."

"Well I'm not entirely bored. I have some interesting quests going on in the Eternal Sphere, but otherwise…" she looked around the room, now designed based on a forest theme. "Well I'm just not finding a decorating style that satisfies me lately."

"Any problems with the style you've had before you started changing?"

"Not really. It was just old. I hadn't changed it since when my first grandkids came."

He nodded. "I saw that. You have been married, had kids, had grandkids, held a job… your most recent hobby was in solar sailing."

"I know I've done a lot," she said, getting worried about how this meeting was going. "There are other things, I just…" she bit her lip.

"You just what?"

"Haven't had interest in them," she admitted reluctantly. "Even when I tried them."

"It's not something to be ashamed of; we all have different interests. Have you considered starting over?"

Being regressed to a child, with all memories forgotten? C.J. took a strand of her red-orange hair and twirled it around her fingers. "I've known about it, but haven't thought seriously on it. I always thought that there might be something more for me to do." But now that everything seemed boring and uninteresting…

"We don't want anyone to be unhappy," Dr. Hall said. "And boredom is a kind of unhappiness. You should look into it. May I take an exam of you now?"

"Sure." They'd only be back with a stronger persistence if she refused, since refusal could be sign of a problem. It took a couple of minutes, but then the doctor had a precise picture of how her body and mind were functioning right at those minutes.

"You're still vibrant and healthy," Dr. Hall assured after he looked over the results. "You could take on a new hobby with no problems, but since none of them satisfy you… how are you on your Eternal Sphere quests?"

She was momentarily taken aback by the shift of topic. "Oh. I have a dating sim style, part adventure, that's close to the engagement stage, I think. It's a deep and solid relationship, at least. And I have a more basic adventure profile too; she's in the middle of a lengthy quest and I'm not sure how long that'll last."

"I'm afraid that I must put a restriction on you creating any new profiles or switching styles for the time being. I'll be back to reassess you in time, at which point the restriction may be lifted. In the meantime, I'll allow you access to some relaxing drugs to help with any underlying stress that may be affecting you."

They spoke some more pleasantries, and then the doctor left. C.J. was left with a booklet about starting over. She'd read it before, but never in thought of her doing so. And the restriction would be a tough one to deal with. After hanging the picture, she decided to go onto the Eternal Sphere.

As she looked over the menu screen, she noticed that the restriction had already taken affect. Sighing, she checked the message boards before logging in this time. Maybe someone would have some tips on how to stretch things out. Maybe not Celine's profile; she was too far along to drag out without failing and the doctors would notice a fail like that. But maybe her generic adventure game…

She'd best finish off her Celine profile, then, so she could focus on the other. Thinking on that, she recalled the other characters she was playing with. Chris was an NPC; that actually made it tougher to carry on a proper romance with him. Aside from hacking, there was no way to find out more about him. And you couldn't 'arrange' things in the OoC boards, like with another PC. But that's what she wanted, a harder romance to pull off. Besides, he was handsome and witty, well spoken. Even if he was on the cowardly and sheltered side, she liked that about him. And Chris was being braver due to her influence.

Then there was that pair, Rena and Claude. C.J. was certain that there were Players behind them, as both were skilled and displayed Player-initiated behaviors. However, she had yet to find those Players. Rena had to have a hacker behind her. Their adventure in Cross Cave had been too hectic too far to really ask, but she had healing spells when Expel was a strict no-healing-symbology planet. And she had that special look, the blue hair and the elf ears that self-centered hackers often chose as being exotic and beautiful.

On the other hand, Claude might be a legitimate character, but someone had definitely paid some favors or weaseled some deal to get him. In an immersion setting, a Player could not think beyond what the character would know. No knowledge that came from 4D was allowed to filter into Eternal Sphere unless there was a way to learn it in-game. Since she wasn't immersed, she knew what was wrong with Claude's speech. He was an alien to Expel and was using a translator to communicate with the natives. The current Pangalactic translator was extremely good at giving the listeners the speaker's intentions and nuances. However, they couldn't lip sync someone using a translator, so their lip movements didn't match their words.

The thing that really set him apart, though, was the fact that he was Claude Kenni, son of Admiral Roinox Kenni, a war hero and famous Terran explorer of the Pangalactic Federation. And Roinox himself was descended from another famous Terran leader. To top it all off, Roinox's adventures surrounding a plague on the planet Roark had been shown as one of the most popular epic series of 4D networks. In order to get the son of that star and hero, Claude's player was either Roinox's player or someone who had sucked up majorly to him or the Eternal Sphere's operators. That, or another hacker.

And if those two were both hackers, they would lie low in the OoC forums, enjoying the attention their characters received without stepping up to accept it. Hackers were dealt with severely by the government. Yet, they were still out there, trying to bend the rules of the Eternal Sphere to something that they could profit from.

C.J. had moved her Tria browser to the Expel OoC forums while thinking about them. Still no word from the players of Rena or Claude. However, she saw a familiar name on the visitor's list. Smiling, she started a chat with him.

-Ashe, 4D

Theo: Hey man, congrats!

Leaning forward in his immersion chair, Ashe brushed his black hair aside and grinned. Yet another message which bolstered his excitement. He sent back a quick message saying, "Thanks man, it's really sweet so far." Then he tried to remember what he'd checked into Tria for. He checked his profile page

_Planet-Expel_

_Character- Ashton Anchors_

_Style- adventure/challenge_

_Quest status- Retrieve Metox from Lasguss Mountains_

_Traveling companions- Bowman, Ernest_

_Play as Ashton?_

Oh right, he had to check in with that soon. They'd be arriving at Lasguss soon and this time, he wanted to be there when they found the quest item. According to the linked map, they were almost there. He had a little while longer to wait and chat with people in the OoC forums, so Ashe shifted back after setting an alert for himself.

Right as he did so, he got a message from a familiar name.

C.J.: Oh hey, it's been a while since I saw you last.

"Oh my gosh, C.J. is on Expel?" Ashe said to himself.

"Excuse me?" his new robotic butler asked.

He waved it off. "Oh sorry. Actually, could you get me some iced tea? Thanks."

"Right away." He soon had a glass of iced tea on the cup holder attachment.

Even something as simple as this was something to be happy about, Ashe thought. He took a drink (it was perfect), then replied to C.J.

Ashe: C.J.???!!! Awesome! Yeah, I haven't seen you since my noob-ish days. Oh, and I'm really sorry if I was a pain about it.

C.J.: (laughs) Oh darling, you weren't bad enough to qualify as a noob. You were always fun to hang around with. So do you like Expel?

Ashe: Aw yeah, it's great. I didn't know you were here, though.

C.J.: It happens. I'm running a dating sim on the Cross continent. What about you?

Ashe: A challenge adventure. I started in Eluria, but I've been drifting ever since that Sorcery Globe incident. I'm in the Cross countryside right now, actually, on a quest.

C.J.: Well then we'll have to find some way to run into each other for old times sake. And my, you're already on a challenge play through? My little newbie from Elicoor is all grown up.

Ashe: (laughs) True. I've even got my own home now! All finished with college and everything.

C.J.: Well congratulations, Ashe! It's always good to move up in the world.

Ashe: Right on! I've got some of my aircraft and seacraft models displayed now, but I'm still not sure how to decorate everything. There's so much to choose from.

C.J.: That there is. So what kind of challenge are you doing?

Ashe: The Ill Luck character build. His name is Ashton and I've gotten him into Heraldic Dueling. It's really tough, because any time luck decides to intervene, I know that I'm getting screwed. If there's a million to one chance that a bridge will fail, it probably will if my character walks over it.

C.J.: Oh, that sounds like a tough one. But it gives you great prestige if you can make a hero out of an Ill Luck character.

Ashe: Right, I'm working on that. I'm on this simple herb gathering quest right now, but I should be able to unlock much better quests shortly. And this particular herb quest, well, I wasn't going to take it, but then I got emotionally involved (blushes).

C.J.: Oo, a pretty girl then?

Ashe: Well not quite…

The alert flashed on Ashe's screen. Action was going to start on the Lasguss quest. Okay, if this quest was going to count towards his prestige, he had to be there when the herb was found.

Ashe: Actually, I have to get back into that quest now. Before I go, who's your character?

C.J.: Celine Jules; she's from Mars, but you're more likely to find her at Cross Castle.

Ashe: Well I can't use that information, but I'll tag the name. Nice seeing you again!

C.J.: You too. Good luck with your quest.

Once that chat was cleared out, Ashe picked the Ashton profile and let himself be immersed. In his own immersion chair, for the first time. That was awesome.

-Ashton, Lasguss Mountain trail

It was a small group, with a single horse-drawn cart and three travelers. Holding the reigns was a nineteen year old youth with black hair and a swordsman's cloak. Sitting near him and watching out for bandits was a thirty-three year old man with long blond hair and a brown long coat. Finally, a thirty-six year old man with short brown hair was sitting in the bed of the cart. The last had been taking inventory of their supplies. Since everything came up fine, he had brought out a banjo and was playing folk songs to pass the time.

Ashton was supposedly the fighter and guard of this group, but he felt a little unneeded compared to the experts who were traveling with him. Taking a moment to glance back, he said, "You're pretty good with that banjo, Bowman."

"It's a new hobby," the herbalist said. "If you want your mind to stay sharp, always learn new things no matter how old you get."

The young swordsman looked back to the road ahead. It was sloped now. Not enough to trouble the horse or cart yet, but there was a drop off that would be dangerous to slide off. And knowing his accursed luck, he'd better keep his wits about him while driving the cart. "I'll remember that."

The blond man put his hand on Ashton's shoulder. "Not much for ruins around this area, it seems, but someone's come this way recently."

"How can you tell, Ernest?"

He pointed out scrub brush alongside the path. "Look for the small signs; branches not laying right, for one. This ground isn't good for footprints, but it looks disturbed."

A short time later, Ernest's observations held true. They came upon a young man, not much older than Ashton, taking a break by a mountain creek. He had long blue hair, but sharp red eyes that took in everything with a harsh seriousness. The sheath of his sword was hidden under his short blue cape. Somewhere between wary and aloof, he observed them approaching.

Ernest, though, gave him a warm smile and a wave of his hand. "Howdy traveler. What're you doing out here?"

"Training," he replied. "And you?"

"Searching for some healing herbs. You want to travel with us for some time? The monsters in these mountains are very tough."

"That's why I'm here alone," the swordsman replied. He then went up the creek, climbing up the cliff face to get on an upper level.

"Not very social, was he?" Ashton said as he got off to remove the bit from the horse's mouth. Might as well take advantage of this stream.

"Some people are like that," Bowman said. "Often they have tragic pasts that they don't want to inflict on anyone else."

After taking care of the horses, the three carried on. Ashton let Bowman take the reigns as the herbalist needed to look out for the proper fields. In the meantime, Ashton spoke some more with Ernest. He was really a friendly guy, if quite odd. "But treasure hunters explore ancient ruins all the time," he pointed out.

"They're just looking for material treasures," Ernest said, with disdain. "I'm looking for something more valuable: knowledge. I want to know who built the old ruins, how, and for what purpose. That's what makes me an archeologist. History has a wealth of things to tell us, and we miss out on a lot of wisdom by ignoring it."

"This place looks good," Bowman interrupted, halting the horses. "Ernest, would you stay here and guard the cart? Ashton, come with me."

"Sure thing," Ernest said, getting off and beginning an inspection of the cart, horses, and immediate area.

"Okay," Ashton replied and followed Bowman into the large field. On one side, a rock face rose far above them, disrupted only by a small waterfall on the northern end. On the other eastern side, there was a sheer drop off that went down into rocky valleys. But here, there was an abundance of tough grasses, herbs, brush, and even a stubborn old tree. The waterfall led to a creek larger than the one they had stopped at earlier in the day.

The herbalist began sweeping his eyes over the low-lying plants. Every now and then, he bent down to touch a leaf of some plant or another, but didn't find any he approved of. Ashton knew some about herbs, but only the common ones. They were looking for the rare Metox herb. After a while, Bowman waved to him. "Ashton, come over here."

"Did you find something?" he asked, walking over.

"Not exactly what we want, but look at this." He knelt down and carefully held onto a small purple flower with five petals.

"Is that a crocus?" Ashton asked. "It's a bit late for those, isn't it?"

Bowman nodded. "Right, this kind of crocus is always the first bloom of the year. But it's late spring, not early. And right next to it," he then took a bright yellow flower with many petals and a bulging center, "is a summer daisy. This tells me that we're in the right place to find Metox. The old folks call it 'breath of the phoenix'. One sign that you're in the territory of a phoenix is this, many flowers blooming out of season in an otherwise harsh environment. Keep an eye out for a three leaf herb; it'll be about the size of your hand outstretched and dark green when you first see it."

"I'll help you look."

But even after looking over the field carefully, they didn't spot any Metox. Bowmen led them up to another field for another search. As this one was smaller, Ernest helped out, but only by the cart. Ashton went over to look by the waterfall. He stepped on an odd purple rock to cross over. Only, it wasn't a rock, and it lifted up as he put his weight on it. Ashton stumbled ahead, barely managing to catch himself from hitting his head against the rock face. As he turned around, drawing both swords, he saw a strange balloon creature with impish eyes.

"There's a strange looking monster," Ashton said aloud as he got into a ready stance.

"No kidding," Ernest called. "Need help?"

"E-hehehehe," a high pitched giggle interrupted them. A fae witch popped into the meadow, looking uncannily human in a pastel green dress and pointed hat. But her eyes were demonic, full white and glowing. "Balooney's found some folks to play with! Come out, come out."

"Sccraaawww!" A flying manta dove down, bearing a wolf man on its back. The wolf man jumped off and added a savage howl of his own.

"Now I do," Ashton said. Gathering thunder energy to his blades, he swept both of them down onto the balloon enemy. It initiated Lightning Strike, so he brought his right blade up to his left shoulder, crossed the left blade down diagonally past his right hip, and then slashed with the left blade with a step forward. Finishing the Strike, his right blade crashed down with a flash of thunder magic as he took a long step around the enemy to the left and turned to the right. His sword style of heraldic dueling required grace and skill, akin to dancing. Very dangerous dancing.

It defeated the balloon monster in one strike. Ashton heard the crack of Ernest's whip. While it had seemed like a flimsy weapon at first, the archeologist wielded it with deft skill against the flying manta. The dueler turned to see that Bowman had been challenged by the wolf man. Although he was an herbalist, he was apparently a skilled boxer as well, dodging more punches than his foe was. That left the fae witch.

"You're not supposed to win!" she shrieked. She was at the other end of the field, preparing a spell. Due to heraldry, she could strike any one of them from her position.

However, Ashton could do the same. This time, he summoned the power of the fields to trigger Leaf Slash. In response to his blades curving motions, the winds kicked up around him, blowing up leaves and loose grasses. Then he merged with the wind; it had taken months and months of practice for him to master this particular skill, but it made him seem to vanish from the battle field. The wind swept him to the fae's location, where he struck her with both blades, one infused with the wind and one infused with the leaves and grass.

Badly hurt, the fae witch wailed and set up teleporting circles around herself and her three minions. "I hope you suffer for this!" she taunted, then vanished with them to recover elsewhere.

"We ought to leave this field for now," Bowman said. "She could call more allies of hers here. Are you both okay?"

"I'm fine," Ashton said. He took one last look around, though.

"I'm good," Ernest added.

Ashton knelt down, though. There was something dark green growing alongside the cliff wall. "Hey Bowman, this plant looks like what you were describing."

"Does it? Let me see." He came over and checked it out, rubbing his fingers against the leaves and smelling it. "Hmm…"

"Is it Metox?"

He shook his head. "No. Still, it is a nice find. This is Clarisage; it grows in shady cool places like this and it has a distinct smell when you rub your fingers against it. Actually, this would help for the cure. I was going to use dried Clarisage, but fresh leaves will be much better." He brought out a small pair of scissors and carefully clipped a few leaves. Using some simple plant magic, he placed a tiny crest on the leaves so that they kept fresh longer.

"If it helps Eleanor, that's good," Ashton said.

But they needed Metox to heal her. If they couldn't find it, then this search was no good. And if they didn't find it fast enough, she would die.

* * *

_Note: Roinox's name is spell at least three different ways across games... ugh. Every one of them is weird too._

_For the benefit of anyone who's not played SO2 (I know there's at least one of you out there reading), Ashton has pretty much zero background in the game. It's never said where his hometown is, what he did before joining the group, or anything (unless I missed a PA, which is entirely possible). I picked to make him from Eluria based on one line (when the party first arrives at Eluria, he says it was a pretty town) and some deductions about his fighting style._

_And yes, I did change the Continent of El to the Continent/Kingdom of Eluria. It sounds better to me._


	3. Two Dungeons

**Chapter 3: Two Dungeons  
**

-Celine, Cross Cave

The only way to tell it was morning in Cross Cave was that it was when everyone was waking up. The group had settled near a cluster of flower-shaped crystals, which glowed faint green. After a shared breakfast of granola, they continued on. "Is something the matter, Rena darling?" Celine asked.

She brushed her hair back. "Not much. I don't feel fully awake yet."

"It's probably mental fatigue; you were casting a lot of spells yesterday." She dug into her bag and found some dried blackberries. "Here, this should help."

"Thank you." She ate a couple, then added, "I normally don't use that many spells in one day, just the occasional heal when someone in the village got hurt."

"I've been meaning to ask you about it. How did you learn healing by magic? There's no such crest in heraldry."

"None?" Claude asked.

Celine nodded. "The closest I know of is the vampire health stealing spells, but that's a different sort. Your healing doesn't hurt anyone. Where did you learn about heraldry, Claude? It's basic knowledge what can't be done."

His face turned pink. "Well I hadn't learned much about symbols."

"They're crests, darling. Calling them symbols is simply uncouth."

"Sorry."

"I don't know when I learned my powers," Rena interrupted, saving her friend from further embarrassment. "I've been able to use heal for as long as I can remember."

Intrigued by this, Celine looked over Rena. However, her outfit was modest and well covering. "Really? Do you have a crest tattooed somewhere? In my village, tradition has us always start by being tattooed on the back of the hands, like the handmaidens of Tria." She held out her long-fingered hands; the right was tattooed with a thunder crest, while the left was tattooed with a fire crest.

"No, I haven't been tattooed," Rena said. She put her hand to her mouth, then seemed to brighten. She slipped a necklace off and showed it to Celine. "I do have this. I was found in Shingo Forest when I was very young; this pendant and my crescent hairpin were with me and I wear them all the time."

"Some jewelry can teach spells, but usually only to skilled magic users." She pulled Rena over to one of the glowing crystals and looked over the pendant. It was a teardrop shaped stone of a milky green color, attached with a silver-like metal to the thin silver chain. When Celine touched it, a feeling like maternal love soaked into her skin. It just had that peaceful protected emotion linked to it. As for the hairpin… it just seemed to be a hairpin, made of polished copper. "Unless the crests are very tiny, I'm not sure about it. It is a kind of magic. I can feel that."

"Does it look familiar? I mean, the style or anything?"

She shook her head. "No. It's simple, so it's hard to pin down a maker. This stone is unusual. You don't find that many places."

"Like where?" She seemed to realize all the questions she was asking, so smiled bashfully as she put the pendant back on. "Sorry about all the questions, but I want to find my real parents."

"It's fine, I can understand that. I think it's called Energy Stone. It's found on Hoffman Island mostly. But you also hear of small deposits being found in Salva Drift in the old days. You have to refine it, though, as it emits a demonic kind of energy in its pure form. Unfortunately, you lose power in refining it. That seems to be refined, so you're okay."

"Obviously, since I've had it for years. I know about Energy Stones." She looked thoughtful, a bit sad too.

"That hairpin looks like the sort fashionable around Salva and Herlie, but you probably knew that."

In the meantime, Claude and Chris were discussing fighting techniques. It was interesting to watch the two of them. Claude obviously had experience and training with a sword, but all he knew were the basic moves. In contrast, Chris had an admirable amount of training in the basics and many sword and crossbow techniques, but sorely lacked experience against living monsters. His form was much more graceful than Claude's, but Claude was clearly the stronger of the two. And while the two looked like strange twins, the small differences beyond clothing were more noticeable to their companions. There was Claude's odd manner of speech and then there was Chris' more refined manners, that of a nobleman.

After some travel, Claude spoke up. "I think there's some trouble up around here."

Celine had noticed that herself. Since she was the most experienced of the group, she wanted to see what her younger companions thought. "True. What makes you say that?"

"It seems quiet here," Rena said.

"And that's the problem," Claude replied. "Yesterday, we encountered monsters in every hall and cavern, and you could always hear them growling or hissing in the shadows. There's nothing today. Either there's some danger around or there's something stronger than they are."

"Something stronger than the previous monsters?" Chris asked, grasping his crossbow in nervousness.

Celine gripped his arm. "I'm sure we can handle it. But we should stay alert. Besides, we're near the new room on this map."

They followed the hall and came to a tall circular cavern. In the center of it, there was a massive growth of red-violet crystal; some of it even swirled up around the rest. The tall crystal filled the room with soft lavender light, oddly soothing for being in such a dangerous cave. According to the map, there was a hallway leading from this room. But it seemed to be completely closed off, with only the hall they had entered from.

After searching around for a while, they still couldn't find a hall. "It's a dead end," Rena said, not particularly helpful.

Celine had the map out. "But this is where the map leads, and the main treasure room is just past it… what a bore, it was such an expensive map."

Claude looked up at the crystal, then turned to her. "Celine, may I see that map again? I just thought of something."

"Certainly, if you can figure something new out." She passed the brown parchment to him.

After a minute, he pointed to just below the room they were in. "Look carefully here… you can see it faintly by this crystal's glow. There's some writing here. I can't quite read it, though."

"Is there?" She took the map back and angled it to the crystal's glow. A shine appeared, followed by small letters. "Why so there is. It speaks of a spell… it could unlock the hidden passage! I'll try this."

Celine moved closer to the crystal to see the words better. After a bit, she recognized the written crest as one of the wind element. Wind wasn't her strong suite, but she could use it. Focusing the magic of wind to her right hand, she traced the crest in the air with her fingers. The crest glowed in faint green for a bit before deciding to accept her command. The still air of the cavern was stirred up, swirling around the tall crystal. While it was too weak to use for battle, the spell made part of the wall tremble. An echo of the crest appeared there, then slammed a good chunk of the rock aside to reveal a hidden passage. A bright yellow light came from within.

"It worked," Chris said, surprised.

"Wonderful," Celine said, beaming. "Let's go check it out."

"There could be the stronger monsters," Claude reminded them, keeping a hold on his simple sword.

Past the curved hall, they came upon a room that was much different than the rest of Cross Cave. There were no monsters, although there was a menacing pair of gargoyles near the entrance. Overhead, there was a large globe that emitted the strong yellow light they had seen; it was enough to make the deep cavern seem like a bright sunny day. In front of them, there was a star shaped table that looked to be made of heavy glass or crystal. It was in two layers with various crests written on both surfaces. There were a few items around, nothing obviously a treasure. But sometimes the best treasures were not obvious.

Rena looked fascinated. "Wow, I wonder what this room was used for. It's so strange."

"It doesn't look like an altar," Chris noted, looking over the star-shaped table. "It kind of reminds me of a conference room. But why so deep in the cave?"

Looking over the items, Celine could discount a few as being typical treasures. But there was something on the other end of the table which was unusual. It was an old leather-bound book. Some of the paint was flaking, but it seemed the cover had been printed with gold in an elaborate pattern. "Oh, this is fascinating."

"A book?" Chris asked, walking over to her.

"A very old book. And look, it has a tree of life pattern on the front." She opened the book and looked at the script. It was hand done and legible, but… "I can't read this."

Chris looked over the book to, but he couldn't read it. Neither could Rena or Claude. "It must be ancient to have writing like this," Chris said. "Is there any way we could get it translated? I'd be interested in knowing what it said."

"We could ask the elders of Mars," Celine said. "We'll have to take this carefully, so it doesn't become damaged." She tucked it into her bag.

After some more looking around, Chris found a pair of silver rings. Celine checked them out, but they weren't enchanted or cursed. Since they were just pretty silver rings, he took them. Claude and Rena found some basic treasures, which they were allowed to keep. It would help them on their journey through Eluria. But as they went to leave the room, the two gargoyles stretched out their wings and howled. Their stone skin turned from dark gray to a yellow-brown.

Celine gripped her crystal rod. In their group, they had one short range fighter, two magic wielders, and one long range fighter. Gargoyles left as guards like this were typically short range, but could fly faster than one would think. Two could trap a single fighter and hurt him badly, perhaps even kill. "Claude, you take one of them. I'll fight the other, while you two back me up."

"Celine?" Chris asked, worried.

"It's safer that way," she said as she gathered fire energy to her rod. Holding it in both hands, she smashed it over the nearest gargoyle's head. The resulting 'thud' and ringing of her metal rod were not that loud. These must have been softer rock gargoyles. Relieved at that, Celine brought her rod up to block the gargoyle from taking a chomp at her face.

There was a blast of wind energy near her as Claude used one of his new sword techniques, Air Slash. Shortly after, there was a sparkling crossbow bolt which struck the foe's wings. A web of sparks flashed across the gargoyle nearest to her, forcing it out of the air. That would have been Chris' Sparkler, which had a high chance of paralysis. Since it wouldn't be able to move, Celine stepped back as Rena added Press, which dropped a large metal anvil on the gargoyle's head, only to have it disappear before it fell on Celine's toes. Magic sometimes picked up on a sense of humor from its user.

Now free to use her magic, Celine drew the crest of Energy Arrow in the air, causing large violet slashes of energy to pierce the gargoyle. Then there came a shout of "Arrow Rain!" from Chris. Celine knew that was more to warn her to get out of the way, as a single bolt from his crossbow turned into a thousand. As Arrow Rain could not be aimed at a single target, anyone in the target zone would be hit. When it hit, the gargoyle screamed before being turned to dust.

She turned to check on Claude in time to see him decapitate the gargoyle he was facing. That didn't always work. This time, it had taken enough damage already to turn into dust. The blond haired man turned to them, then smiled. "That was intense, but it seems we're all okay."

"Oh good," Rena said.

"Still, things like these gargoyles are known to come back together after some time," Celine said. "Let's head out; we can take the direct route through the cave."

* * *

After more hours of walking and fighting monsters, the four came out of Cross Cave just as the sun was low in the western sky. Since any effort to reach a town would end up with them traveling in the dark, they decided to set up camp by the entrance of the cave. One of the last monsters they had fought was safe to eat, so Celine cleaned up the carcass and Rena cooked the meat.

"Seriously, neither of you boys has experience in gutting and cleaning a monster?" Celine teased them. She was cleaning off her hands in a nearby pool. Her clothes would take serious attention later on, but she could get rid of the most visible signs of meat bits and blood.

"I always had servants around," Chris admitted. "And my parents weren't big into game hunting."

"I, um," Claude started, but his voice drifted off into uncertainty. Oddly enough, he glanced up at the sky. "I was a soldier, of sorts, but I was never taught that."

"You've been in the military?" Chris asked, interested. "Which country? And why don't you have your equipment?"

"It's complicated; I can't really tell you."

"Oh, one of those secret positions?" Celine said. "I suppose we can't really ask you about that."

"Right," he replied, turning his eyes back to them and showing relief. "As for my equipment, one piece is broken and I've lost the rest. It's been a rough trip."

"I just hope you're not here planning an invasion of Cross," Chris said. He paused a bit, then shrugged. "National loyalty, you know?"

"I understand. No, nothing like that. I can't say what, though."

"Hmm." Celine dried off her hands with a weak fire spell, then came back to the main campfire. "I'm planning on heading to Mars to see about the book we found. So you two would be heading to Clik then."

"Right," Claude said.

"We could travel with you to Mars at least," Rena said. "It's on the crossroads, isn't it?"

"Yes, between Herlie, Clik, and Cross Castle."

"I should probably go back to the castle town," Chris said, with a slight pause after castle. "But I'd like to see Mars sometime."

After the meal, Chris asked Celine to come talk with him in private. They went back into the cave a little ways, not enough to get the attention of monsters inside, but enough to get out of hearing of the two by the campfire. She put her hand on his shoulder. "What is it, lovey? You look troubled."

"It's…" he looked down and struggled with his words for a moment. "Celine, I love you. I truly do. I couldn't really describe it, just the way you think, the fun we have just talking over tea, and your beauty... the days seem brighter when I'm with you and if I could, I would marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. That would be simply wonderful and it's what I want… but it can't be like that."

All at once, Celine was delighted, afraid, and saddened by what he was saying. It was clear from his tone and expressions that he was upset too, but felt out of control of the situation. "Why not? I love you too and I would be so happy if I were your wife."

A smiled started across his face, but it disappeared quickly. "I'm glad to know, and yet… I'm sorry, but I haven't been fully honest with you. My name isn't Chris, although I wish it were. And… I'm already engaged to someone else."

"You are?" Some bitterness prickled within her heart. This wouldn't be the first time a man had used her and lied to her. But she wanted to believe that Chris was truly naïve and this wasn't entirely his fault. He wasn't like the others.

He grimaced. "It's a political marriage. I still remember when I was seven and we took a trip to Lacour when she was just a baby. I was told to sign an agreement to the marriage when she was sixteen, but that was all I did. All the arrangements were made before she was born and I haven't seen her since."

"That young?" Celine asked, curiosity holding back anger for now.

"It's… No. I'm really Prince Clothier Cross and I'm supposed to marry Rozelia Lacour soon. She was supposed to arrive yesterday. But I just could not keep my mind and heart off you, so I ran before the staff could find out. They don't know about us."

Celine put her hand to her face. "You're the prince? How could I not notice? I just thought you belonged to a noble family that didn't want you with a sorceress."

Chris put his arm around her. "I don't think I could be truly happy unless I was with you. I want to keep running and be with you. But I just can't. The marriage was arranged as part of a peace treaty between Cross and Lacour. Eluria wasn't involved, but they've been watching us with caution, at least until the Sorcery Globe incident. You must have noticed that there's been no war the past sixteen years. It was supposed to be that the marriage would cement a solid bond between our countries, eventually merging because both kings have been in fading health in the past few years. And then Eluria would make peace with us, since they couldn't fight both other continents combined. The whole world would be at peace, which would make the people happy and safe. So I have to marry Rozelia, for the sake of our country's future."

That was true. Celine felt quite humbled by this idea of the world being united and at peace. But even if it made everyone else happy, she wouldn't be happy.

Feeling the same, Chris clenched his fists even if he looked defeated. "But then I think again that I couldn't ever be as happy with Rozelia as I would be with you. I don't want to start another series of wars, but everything would be so dreary without you. That kind of marriage sounds like drudgery. And… I really couldn't ever see you again. I don't want to be one of those kings that sacrifices his people and lands for his own gain. I want to be a king that sets a good example for the people, loyal and true. But then I wouldn't be true to myself and… I just don't know if I have the strength to do that. I can't be weak enough to run away, though." He blinked his eyes and a pair of tears ran down his cheeks.

"Oh Chris," she said, even though she was uncertain of what to say herself. She wasn't sure if it was right, but she hugged him. If she loved him… she had to support him, even if that meant breaking things off. He soon had his arms around her and was crying on her shoulder, apologizing repeatedly.

-Ashton, Lasguss Mountains

So far, their search had been fruitless. The phoenix's mountain had many little fields and meadows tucked away on its rocky face, but the three were getting higher and higher. Eventually, there would be no more fields to search.

Ashton watched the fire that night, thinking. About two months ago, he had met a little girl named Eleanor in Herlie. Only seven years old, she was highly imaginative and intelligent. She was a frail one, though, suffering from a slow degrading illness. She'd never been out of her hometown, barely able to make it outside. However, she longed for an adventurous life. After having proven himself trustworthy, Ashton got into a habit of visiting her to tell her stories of his adventures.

A week ago, she'd taken a turn for the worse. This was despite the arrival of Bowman Jean, a famed herbalist and healer from Lacour. Having heard about Eleanor's plight from a traveler, he had come out to see her himself. Bowman had been the one to suggest finding the Metox for a special medicine that could cure her completely. He had chosen to take Ashton with him, as he had come to care for the little girl's future as well.

So here they were, all the way across the Cross continent with a peculiar traveler they had met along the way. Despite their best efforts, it seemed to be in vain. They didn't have long, though. Eleanor might even be dead by now.

Ashton closed his eyes. No, he couldn't think of that. He had to hope that she would be okay. It was such a shame to lose life at such a young age. If he could do something, he had to do it. He hadn't been able to do anything before, back in Eluria.

His stomach squired at remembering that. To keep his mind off that, he looked over to Ernest. Bowman was asleep. "Hey, um… I don't mean to be rude, but can I ask you something?"

A playful smile came to his face. "It's fine. What do you want to know?"

"Well why do you talk so oddly? I can't figure out the accent, although I know what you're saying all right. And is that really a third eye?"

Ernest's smile widened as he looked in Ashton's direction. With all three black eyes. They were so odd. The two lower ones were normal and all right, but that third one sat centered above them, on his forehead. And it moved exactly like the others, so it wasn't just some odd decoration. "I'm from a strange place. How I talk comes across as normal to me, while your words are odd to me. And about the eye, it's a heraldry thing."

He sat up. "Really? I didn't know magic could make you grow a third eye. I mean, you see the odd monster from time to time with three eyes. Maybe that's why."

"Could be, could be."

"But you don't use magic."

"Not very often. What I can do is a little dangerous, more so for anyone that happens to be around me. I avoid it when I can."

"I see." He stretched his arms out and glanced up…

…and saw a large bird flying overhead. There was a glow like a green fire on its wings. Was that the Lasguss phoenix?

Ashton watched it for a bit, then looked down. Ernest was stirring up the fire, adding another log so that it could run all night and keep the local monsters away. From the look of things, he hadn't seen the phoenix, or noticed Ashton's gaze at the sky.

"Pardon me," Ashton said, getting up. "I'm going to take a short walk around."

Ernest nodded absentmindedly. It seemed he had his own things to think about.

Even later, he couldn't recall why he had gone off without telling Ernest why. Or telling him anything about the phoenix. It was like he had some inner knowledge that the phoenix would not meet with two. What he did know was that if the Metox was said to be the breath of the phoenix, it might be fastest to ask the phoenix itself for the herb.

Ashton walked off a short ways before thinking that he didn't know where the phoenix kept its nest. Maybe if he got to a higher point, he could get its attention. As he looked over the pillars of rock around, he came to one where he caught a strong scent of herbs. It was a mix, mostly lavender and wolfsbane, but there were hints of other herbs mingling. He found a good spot and began climbing the pillar.

After a moderate climb, he came to a higher plateau. There was a nest here, but not like the small ones that could be held in one hand. This nest was huge, coming up to his waist and stretching out a good twenty feet across. As he touched it, he noticed that it was entirely made from herbs and scented wood. It led to a heady perfume that seemed to both enthrall him and revitalize his energy, just by smelling it. An odd thought came into his mind; he wondered how it would smell when the phoenix set it alit.

A small gust from large wings being beaten interrupted his thoughts. The Lasguss phoenix landed in its nest and looked down at Ashton. By the light of the moon and its own fire, he could see that it was forest green and dark silver in plumage. But it was over twice his height, created its own fires about its wings, and had the beak and visage of a bird of prey. Ashton felt a deep dread as he came face to face with an immortal creature.

"What do you come here for, human creature?" the phoenix asked in a deep dark voice. "I am XINE, king of these mountains. This is not a place for you." It spoke its name with a strange effect. While the rest of its words were normal, XINE spoke his name with a sound like a thousand echoes in a small room.

Trying not to tremble, Ashton stepped back and bowed. "I-I don't mean to disturb you, XINE your Highness." He put his hands to his mouth. Had he just done the strange echo thing too?

He had the impression that the phoenix was smirking. "I am so powerful that even my name is magic. Now that you know this for yourself, state your name, rank, and purpose for being here."

You're doing this for Eleanor, he reminded himself. "I am Ashton Anchors of Eluria, formerly an apprentice to Sir Russell Anchors of the King's Knights. I'm just a traveling swordsman now. I came here with two others in search of the herb Metox."

XINE snorted. "And what makes you think that you deserve such an exclusive herb?"

Clasping his hands together, Ashton did his best to look meek. "It is not for me, your Highness, nor my companions. It is for a young girl named Eleanor who lives in Herlie. She has the white death at her bedside."

"Why should one little girl matter? Many people have the white death. It is only natural. Why does she matter?"

"She doesn't deserve to die so young. She has a lot of promise; she's smart and very friendly. She could do great things in the future."

"Or, she could not. Death does not listen to such things. Death takes away all, deserving or not. She is not even your kin. Why should she be saved?"

His fear getting overtaken by anger, Ashton threw his hands back and forgot any pretense of being meek. "Why shouldn't she matter? If you can do something to save another person pain, why not do it? You should take the chance, no matter who it is. I might not be able to heal her myself, but I'll do all that I can to help those who can. But you probably can't understand it, since you never are affected by death."

"SILENCE!" XINE called, putting the echoes behind that word. Ashton felt like his throat had been clamped shut and he struggled to breathe. The phoenix flapped his wings once, but stayed. "It is true that I will not die according to your schedule. Nevertheless, I know other mortals. I too am affected by death. But I am meant for a life of solitude. I have the power to dispel such illnesses, but if I were to heal often, you human creatures would never strive to find your own cures and knowledge. And you would never leave me alone, which would drive me to madness and war."

The phoenix spoke war with a narrowing of his eyes and a tone of hostility that made Ashton aware that he would be foolish to challenge XINE to a battle. It was quiet for a minute while XINE looked right at him. Although frightened and still having great pressure on every breath he took, Ashton looked back, trying to appear determined. It was something hard to do against such a large creature, now that his anger had left him.

"I know what your purpose in this quest is, Ashton of Eluria," XINE spoke finally. "You wish to prove that you are not worthless. You will do anything to save another, but it will never be entirely for that other's sake. You knew people who died when the Sorcery Globe landed, but you saw many more be driven to madness in the following days and you could do nothing about it. You could never be sure if the demons haven't implanted similar seeds of madness within you. And you had to fight your own father, who was turned into a demon."

Ashton paled.

"I know these things when I look into your heart. The demons have not touched you, although whether by oversight or maliciousness I do not know, so you need not fear madness. And there truly was nothing you could do back in Eluria. The Sorcery Globe is a power not of this world; I recognize it not. I also see that you will not be satisfied even if the girl is saved. You may be glad for her sake, and you may continue to fool lesser creatures than I, in that you adjust to life and move on. But no matter how much progress you make, no matter how many people you save, the memory will still be there. The memory of helplessness will continue to drive you on and it will never let you feel worthy, unless you can overcome yourself. You may not understand this fully now, but you should strive for that instead.

"As for the Metox, I only give it to those who meet my judgment and take it to heart. It seems that my words have not fallen on deaf ears this time. Therefore, I will allow you to take it. But the white death is persistent. If you want to make sure that she survives and grows strong, I can arrange for that to happen. However, there will be a price that you must pay. Will you take it?"

His heart pounded, although Ashton wasn't sure if it was from what XINE was saying or from his lungs still struggling. He put his right hand to his chest. Even though he wanted to agree, he found himself speechless.

"Oh right. I apologize."

The clenching magic released its hold on Ashton and he gasped for a moment. The myriad of scents from XINE's nest seemed to fill his body, making his head seem like it would float away. Focusing on keeping it attached, he said, "I will accept it."

The phoenix cawed softly. "Good. Had you asked, I would have refused the deal. I will name the price later. Take this Metox and get it to the girl. Then, leave town alone and I will tell you what must be done." He took a deep breath, then blew gently over Ashton.

Strangely, Ashton felt like he was standing right next to a roaring bonfire. The heat was enough to make his eyes water. He brought his hands up and a strange glow appeared. It settled into a dark green herb with three leaves, about as broad as his hand outstretched. But it was peculiar beyond that. It had a texture like velvet and a smell like a camp fire. And as he moved it, its color changed slightly to dark blue-violet, then back to green.

Smiling, he bowed again. "Thank you, your Highness. We will get this to Eleanor quic…"

He'd been walking back as he was speaking and accidentally slipped on a pile of loose rock. It caused him to go falling straight off the rock cliff. After a shock of hard pain, he blacked out.

-Ashe, 4D

The immersion chair let Ashe go unexpectedly. The young man gasped for a minute. Although it was just a simulation, the sensations clung to him: the heat of XINE's breath, the fiery scent of the Metox, the slip of the rocks under his feet, and the fall through thin air. He leaned forward to hold his head in his hands. This wasn't the first time that his character had fallen unconscious in the Eternal Sphere. It was still a nasty shock.

"Do not fear," his robotic butler said, coming into the room with a glass of water. "You are safe." It held the water up for him.

"I know, I am." He took the glass in his trembling hands and took a long drink. Well he had been there to claim the Metox himself. He wondered what the 'price' would be. He hoped it was another quest. At this point in the play through, he could use all the prestige he could get.

But the words of the phoenix had struck him too. It would never be for the other's sake. And, about Ashton's father… that still struck a nerve with Ashe, as if it had been his own father instead. He had really liked the character of Russell, so to see him succumb to the call of the demons and have to use his own sword techniques against him, it had been horrible. Ashe had asked for a week off from classes after having been at that battle himself. The school had given him a month and constant social support. However, when he went back into character as Ashton, he was alone again.

"Ashe, did something bad happen within the Sphere?" the robotic butler asked. "I can arrange for an amnesia specialist to remove any unwanted memories."

They had offered that repeatedly before. But it wouldn't fully go away. Ashe might not remember it while in 4D, but when his mind went into Ashton, he would remember it once again. "It's fine, I can handle it. I want to wait until I can get back into character; I have something to tell the others who were playing with me."

"Very well. Do not hesitate to ask for anything."

After a few minutes, the Tria browser informed him that Ashton was coming around. Ashe sat back to be reimmersed, bracing his mind for the pain that would return.

-Ashton, Lasguss Mountains, XINE's peak

A strong but dull ache coursed through Ashton's awareness as he became alert again. His mind wasn't quite sure what had just happened. He was… talking to XINE, then he had slipped and… he must have fallen off the height that he had climbed. Could he move?

"Hold still there," he heard Ernest say. The three-eyed man came into a blurry view as Ashton opened his eyes. "You're lucky you didn't break any bones, but you're not quite ready to move yet. Bowman's over making you a medicine. Just stay there quietly for now."

A few agonizing minutes later, Bowman came over with a metal cup. "This isn't going to be pleasant, but it will dull the pain and help your body heal. You need to drink all of this."

As Ernest helped him sit up, Ashton nodded and took the cup. Pain arced across his shoulders as he did so. Inside the cup was a liquid that looked like watery milk. It certainly didn't smell like milk. Deciding to drink it quickly, he put it to his mouth and did so. It tasted chalky and strange. But Bowman was an expert. If he said it would help, then it would.

"Wait here for it to kick in, then we'll move you back to the campsite," Bowman added.

"Okay." He looked down at himself and realized something. "What happened to the Metox?"

"I've got it back over with my collection. Where did you find it? You could have woken me up for that, or been more careful."

"Sorry. I got it from the phoenix."

Ernest brightened. "You met the phoenix? Magnificent."

Bowman didn't look so enthusiastic. "Maybe magnificent in that you're alive and relatively unhurt. The Lasguss phoenix is known to have a bitter attitude towards humans and has killed those he deems unworthy of meeting him. That's why some also call it a demon bird. He probably considers this amusing."

"Probably. He was very harsh to me before he gave it to me; it surprised me." A strange sensation came over Ashton's body them, a feeling like he was disconnecting from his body. But it also disconnected him from the pain. "I think it's working now."

"Okay then, let's go. Not too fast." The two men helped him up, then over to his sleeping bag at the campsite. It wasn't long after he got in that he fell asleep.

-Ashe, 4D

As he came back out of the immersion chair, his robot announced, "It will be time for dinner shortly."

"All right, thanks." He took a moment to shake off the immersion feelings again. Most days it was easy. But then sometimes he got so into character that he had moments of doubt when he came back to 4D. Those days, it was like his real life wasn't here.

The browser screen shifted over to show an alert. 'Player Jeb (Bowman Jean) wishes to speak with you. Open chat channel?'

He accepted it and added Jeb to his accepted contacts list. 'Hi, good to speak with you,' he typed.

Jeb: You too. You all right? Serious injuries like that mess with my head when I get back.

Ashe: It was much worse when I fell unconscious. I'm a bit woozy now.

Jeb: Okay, just wanted to check. Hey, but it's been fun playing with you. Nice to see someone taking heraldic dueling seriously.

Ashe: Thanks. I always liked it and it really bugged me when people called it just a flash in the pan. It's been fun playing with you two guys too. By the way, do you know the guy with the three-eyed character?

Jeb: :D Yup. He's actually another character of mine.

Ashe: Really? So you had two characters in that one quest.

Jeb: I didn't mean for it to happen. Ernest's not supposed to be on that planet anyhow. I just let one go auto when they're together. We'll probably separate after we get back to Herlie.

Ashe: Right. So what race is Ernest? I don't remember it.

Jeb: He's from Tetragenes. They're a pretty interesting race, I think.

Ashe: you're lucky you're on a symbology using planet, or you wouldn't be able to get away with that magic explanation :).

Jeb: Yeah, but he can't just hide his top eye under a hat or something. Tetragenes actually have their sense of balance connected to that eye; if it gets covered, they get dizzy.

Ashe: Weird, but I guess it makes sense. So what is he doing here?

Jeb: He's obsessed with archeology and travels from planet to planet looking for OPAs and advanced ancient cultures. He ended up stranded here when his ship broke down. I have all the parts to fix it and it wouldn't take long, but Ernest found out about places like Mountain Palace and Hoffman Ruins and well, he's still there.

Ashe: Hah! Won't somebody come looking for him?

Jeb: Probably. I know just who would too. At any rate, we've got a long trip back. It's gonna be a little tough on you, since your character is injured. But it's in good company, so it shouldn't be bad.

Ashe: Yeah, that's true. I've got to sign off soon. Do you mind if I add you as a friend?

Jeb: Nah, go right ahead. Talk to you later.

Ashe: Sure thing.

Once Tria accepted Jeb to Ashe's friend list, he left his game room to eat dinner.

* * *

_I had somebody suggest using the PSP names for the Ten Wise Men. While it might fit the Japanese naming scheme better, it's a problem of I've not played the PSP version, thus those names are kind of alien to me. But thanks for the comments, and the suggestion._

_I'm rethinking my chapter setup, so the first two might be renamed... nothing else will change for now, just the names if I think of better ones._


	4. A Girl's Dream

**Chapter 4: A Girl's Dream**

-C.J., 4D

Saige: So my character Solene is married now :D.

Jenna: oh sweet! Who's the guy?

Saige: He's a fisherman, but I'm pretty sure this sim will stay faithful. I told my husband he ought to learn from this guy.

Jenna: haha, so true. I'm still working on getting some special guy's notice.

C.J.: I just learned that the guy my character is dating is a prince.

Saige: What? How did you get so lucky?

Jenna: Wow, amazing. And you didn't even notice.

C.J.: I didn't know he was until he told me. I haven't got him secured yet, though.

Jenna: you ought to stick by him. It is so rare for a dating sim to acquire a royal partner without cheating or arranging.

Saige: did you arrange things?

C.J.: No, he's an NPC as far as I know.

Jenna: So what're you gonna do to keep him?

C.J. paused in her typing. She wasn't sure what to do. Getting a prince involved in one's dating sim was incredibly rare if it happened at random. But then with the doctor's restrictions, she wouldn't be able to play as Celine much longer if she somehow got Chris. That would require switching from a dating sim to a life, love, or family sim. And there was the political situation that he had talked about. Politics in the Eternal Sphere were a big matter. If she helped trigger a war on Expel by marrying Chris, some players would hate her for disrupting their peaceful game lives. Others would like her for the same reason, or even join Expel if there was a war going on. It would drastically change play on her favorite planet.

But then if she cut it off, Celine would get depressed, which would affect her, which would be noticed by the medical network. Next time, they might be a little more heavy-handed about starting her over.

C.J.: I'm not sure yet.

She cut off the conversation a few lines after that. Saige was jealous and probably wouldn't talk to her for weeks due to this. That, and an alert had come up on Tria. She needed to get back into character.

-Celine, Cross country road

Although the weather was brilliant, sunny, and clear, the trip back to Cross Castle had been noticeably less spirited then the trip to Cross Cave. Celine and Chris tried to appear happy so the other two didn't get involved in the issue; they thought they were just heading back to check with some experts in the castle town about the various small treasures they'd found. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as Rena asked, "What's the matter with you two? You don't seem too happy today."

"It's complicated," Celine said.

Chris closed his eyes for a bit, then looked to the three of them. "I told her last night… I'm actually Clothier, the Prince of Cross. Which means I'll be marrying the princess of Lacour soon, not her."

"Well that's…" Claude started, but wasn't sure what to say.

Rena knew what she wanted to say, though. "But you two love each other! That much is obvious. Why not marry Celine instead? You'll be happier for it."

"I would be," Chris said. "But I can't risk getting the Kingdom of Lacour mad at Cross. I've been engaged for a long time. So even if I've never met Rozelia, I have to go through with it."

"Well why don't you explain things to Rozelia then?" Rena argued. "I'm sure that if you explained that Celine is your true love, she would understand."

"How can you be sure of that?" Chris asked in mixed tones. It seemed that he wanted to believe she was right, but had doubts. For herself, Celine felt the same way. "You couldn't know her either."

"I would think any reasonable person could understand the situation. Besides, she's a girl. Every girl dreams of finding her one true love." She gave a happy little smile to that.

"Well, Rozelia would be sixteen too," Celine said. When she had been young, she had believed in waiting for her true love as well. Now that she was in her twenties, she hadn't been so sure about it. But if it got her together with Chris, she would believe in those old dreams again.

"I really want it to work out that way, but…" Chris thought about it. "If I try and Rozelia refuses to accept it, it's going to cause a big mess. And I have to set a good example for my people, so I can't just give in to passion."

"But then you wouldn't be true to yourself if you accept a false happiness," Rena insisted. She might have been the youngest one there, but she seemed to have the strongest voice. "And that would be a bad example too."

"I know. Let me think about it." He found something about his crossbow to distract himself with for a minute, but as they walked on, he was mostly quietly, reflecting on things in his mind.

Celine looked down at the stone road they were following. It had been made for easier cart travel. Since the noise and sight of the carts kept the monsters away, it was safest for travelers who were walking too. When she looked up, she saw Cross Castle, its white towers standing high behind stone walls. It seemed much too close for her liking.

Coming over by Chris' side, she took his hand. "You don't have to talk to Rozelia about us if you don't want to," she said quietly. "I don't want to cause trouble for you. But I'll always think of you as my lovey-dovey Chris."

He finally smiled, something he hadn't done all morning. "Thanks, my lovey-dovey Celine. I've thought of something about that… you know those rings I picked up? Should I get a jeweler in town to look at them? I trust your magic and knowledge, but I don't want to… to cause problems if I give them as a gift."

She lightly patted him in playful admonishment. "Now if I say they're not cursed, you ought to trust that. I'm kidding, lovey. If you are going to give them as gifts, you should get a second examination, just in case. You don't want to be turning your gift recipient to stone, after all."

"Right. I know a place in town. If we don't get spotted by the guards, I'd like to stop by there."

By the time they got to the city gates, Chris looked more confident, like the problem had lessened its weight. ""I'll try explaining things to Rozaline," he told them. "Celine, would you come with me? I think the two of you ought to meet."

She smiled at him. "Sure, my lovey." She looked to the other two. "It's been fun traveling with you both. I wish you the best in your trip to Eluria."

"Thanks," Rena said with a nod. "You've helped us a lot."

"We'd invite you to the wedding if you're going to be around," Chris said. "But I'm not sure how a trip to Eluria would allow for that."

"We might find a reason to stay around for a while longer," Claude said with a grin. "Depends on how much longer, though."

The pairs split up. Celine and Chris went to the market square and found the jeweler he wanted. After waiting for some time for the store owner to use probably every bit of equipment he had to examine the silver rings, he came back with a sound judgment. "I can't find any hint of a curse on these two, nor a blessing. They seem to be just a pair of rings, although obviously well-crafted by a master of metalwork. Still, I can't give you a price estimate on them as I have nothing to compare them to save for modern ring work. They could sell very high due to their ancient origins, but they could sell for almost nothing due to their lack of any magic craft."

"I see." Chris took the rings back, then paid for the exam. "Thank you."

They walked north to reach the castle itself. As an extra security measure, the castle had originally been surrounded by a deep moat, only accessible by boat or a single stone bridge. A drawbridge at the end could be pulled up to seal off the castle. But then the city outgrew its castle, and another outer wall had to be erected in order to allow enough room for expansion. As a result, the inner castle was much more elegant and ancient than the rest of Cross Castle City.

As they entered the grand hall, with its black and white tiles and lofty ceiling, Chris let go of Celine's hand. "If you don't mind, let me handle the castle staff. I have more experience with them."

She nodded. It would help him to be a stronger man if she let him do so. And besides, this was a big change from the meek and naïve Chris that she had met originally. "I'll be good."

He chuckled, then came up to one of the guards on patrol. "Excuse me."

The guard turned, then widened his eyes. "Your highness? Where on Expel have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

"Hold on, good man," Chris said, holding up his right hand. "I'm all right. I'll speak with the King later on about this. For now, we need to see Princess Rozelia. Is she in yet?"

"Yes, she arrived just yesterday. Who is this?"

"Celine Jules, a friend of mine. Where is the princess staying?"

"Up in the guest chambers. I will take you there if you wish, your highness."

He didn't seem too impressed; he probably knew how to get there on his own. But Chris let the guard led them up the stairs to the correct guest suite. It was quite grand considering the small space it took up. A big picture window looked out over the mountains and forests by the castle. It had its own toilet room (very exclusive; not even Celine's prestigious family could afford one) and powder room. To finish it off, it was filled with beautiful furniture: a large bed with a silk canopy, a rare dark cherry set of drawers with polished mirror, a tall wardrobe to match the drawers, sumptuous stuffed chairs, and other showy items.

In the room, they finally met Princess Rozelia. She was beautiful, with fair unblemished skin, dainty long hands, a larger chest than Celine, and a full hourglass figure. However, she did look uncannily like Chris, with her long sunny blond hair and her sky blue eyes. They probably had relatives that were the same if one looked back enough generations. Even though she seemed to be relaxing here, she wore a stylish white and pink dress with sparkling ribbons around the hem and on the chest. Kicking her feet some, she looked to them with a bored expression.

"Princess," the guard said. "I bring you Prince Clothier T. Cross and his friend Celine Jules. Prince, I present to you Princess Rozelia Lacour."

The Princess got up and curtsied as her maid came up and did the same. "It is good to meet you, Prince Clothier, after all these years." She spoke a little stiffly, too politely.

"Tis good to see you in good health," Chris replied, in the same kind of formal tone. "If you don't mind, Rozelia, we need to talk about our futures."

"Well, all right," she said, twisting her fingers about in some nervousness. As she was anxious about something, she continued with formalities. "It is good to see you in good health as well; I had heard that you were recovering in the provinces."

Celine glanced at the knight, who pretended not to notice the lie.

"Right about that… I have actually been traveling around to meet with my people and, I mean you no disrespect, but with an honest heart, I must say that I cannot marry you, Rozelia."

In response to that, Rozelia moved back some in surprise. Celine had to admire her self-control right then. Some women she knew would break down and wail at a declaration like that. All she said was, "Oh my."

"Now why would that be?" the maid interrupted. The middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes at him. "You've been engaged to her for sixteen years, you can't possibly back out due to cowardice now."

"I am not a coward," Chris said, sharp enough to stop a rant from her. But his words quickly softened as he turned back to Rozelia. "It took quite some courage to decide to tell you this. But you see, I love Celine here." He took her hand at that point, as she started smiling. "It started six months ago when I decided to leave my crown behind and explore the city as the people did. I knew people treated me special because I was the prince, but I didn't realize how much until I did so. And when I nearly got into trouble based on my ignorance, Celine stepped in and covered for me, for no reason but simple generosity. I spent the rest of the day with her, and then many more days after that. I realized a short while back that I loved her truly and deeply. I know this is unorthodox and I had promised my hand to you. But I was just a child when I signed that treaty, unable to understand what I was doing. I know now that I couldn't possibly be happy with anyone other than Celine as my wife. She's helped to make me a better man, and I'm sure a better king in the future. I give you my deepest apologies, but our wedding must be called off."

The maid did not look happy to hear this. But to her surprise, the princess brightened up and clapped her hands together with a girlish laugh. "Oh, that's wonderful Clothier! I'm so happy that you found your true love that I don't mind calling off the wedding. And you're so lucky, Miss Celine. From his letters, I know that Clothier is a great man in the making."

Laughing too, Celine replied. "Yes, I knew that all along."

Chris smiled at them, then pulled the rings out of his pocket. "There's something else. I knew we were to be married in order to cement peace and friendship between our kingdoms. But since the marriage will not take place, I have this to offer instead." He put one of the rings on, then held the other out to Rozelia. "In the interest of having a brighter future for the both of our countries, I offer you this ring of friendship, to promise that I will never bring Cross to attack Lacour, and to promise assistance and free trade between our grand countries."

She accepted the other ring. "On behalf of the Kingdom of Lacour, I too promise that Lacour will not attack Cross, and promise assistance and free trade between our fine countries." She put it on and grinned as the two shook hands on the promise. "How exciting! Miss Celine, may I help with the wedding? I don't think my dressmakers have done much on my wedding dress, so we can go to them and have them refit a lovely one for you."

"Certainly, your highness, thank you," she said with a curtsey.

She came over and patted her on the arm. "Oh, it's okay, just call me Rozelia."

"Are you sure this is wise, princess?" the maid asked.

"I'll speak to father about this," she dismissed. "Better yet, I'll write him a letter before he comes over here."

"And what about your father, the king?" the guard asked.

"We'll speak with him too shortly," Chris said. "Besides, I've got things to tell him about the other people that I've met. There are problems that haven't been brought up to the court yet."

And with the major problems out of the way, preparations for the wedding of Chris and Celine began.

-Ashton, Mars

The group stopped off at the village of Mars. It was a quiet but intelligent town which blended in with the woods to the north of it. "I'm afraid this is where I have to leave you two," Ernest said, jumping off the cart. "I have some business to take care of to the northwest before I head up to Hoffman Ruins. It's been good traveling with you guys, though."

"Right, we appreciate the help," Bowman said, shaking Ernest's hand. "Take care of yourself now. Hoffman Island is a rough place."

"Sure enough."

Ashton shook his hand too. "Yes, thank you. I've learned a lot from you in these few days."

"You're welcome, sonny." He clapped his other hand on top of Ashton's. "I think you've got a bright future, so don't do anything to mess it up."

"Um, all right, I'll keep that in mind."

After that goodbye, Ernest headed into the general store of Mars for some supplies. Bowman and Ashton unhitched their horses and led them over to a stable by the main road. By showing a written contract list from other stables, they were able to trade their tired horses in for fresh ones. Normally, travelers would simply keep one set of horses. But since they had to deliver the medicine fast, Bowman had arranged this deal so they could keep moving. They left Mars not long after arriving.

A couple hours later on the road, they encountered a band of bandits. At least, they would have encountered the bandits, if not for a strangely narrow blast of wind which swept across the road in front of the cart. The unprepared bandits were all knocked over and were scrambling to get up as the wind died and the cart moved on. Before the band could give chase, the wind returned, again not hitting the cart.

Bowman noticed. "Huh, someone must be watching out for us. Whichever god protects our path, we give our heartfelt thanks."

Being in the back of the cart keeping an eye on their things, Ashton saw a quick movement of green overhead. Not a god, but XINE was watching out for them. His mouth went dry. What did the phoenix have in mind for him? However, he did his best to keep Bowman from noticing. The older man would worry.

They arrived in the port of Herlie as the sun was setting. Bowman brought the cart into town and parked it by the house of Eleanor's family. "Take the medicine and handle it carefully," he instructed. I'll light a lamp and bring what else I need."

Ashton nodded, but it worried him. He'd been having a string of decent luck ever since the incident in falling off the mountain. In his life, that was always a bad sign. It meant that something terrible would happen shortly. He didn't know why, but his life had always been marked by ill luck. It had yet to kill him, but he couldn't count the number of times that he had caused accidents or had completely random mishaps ruin one day or another. Thus, when whatever god of chaos he was born under had held back for a while, he knew it was preparing to make a terrible strike.

Still, he picked up the clay container holding the medicine Bowman had made from the Metox. Although lidded securely, it still had a scent like fire coming off it. It sloshed gently as Ashton carried it from the cart into the red roofed house. A few candles were lit inside, but it was not light enough to see the interior well.

Eleanor's mother had answered the door and led them upstairs. "She still breathes, but she hasn't stirred much since you left. I followed your instructions and she doesn't seem to be in much pain now."

"Good, good. I've got enough of the medicine for two weeks now. If she shows signs of improvement, then she should recover by the end of that time. I'd like your help with this first night. Ashton, you'll have to leave since you're not a healer."

"Um, all right."

"You may rest in the room across from here," Eleanor's mother said. "I know it's been a long trip for you both."

"Yes, thank you. I hope this works." He bowed politely, then left the room.

There was a blip of a moment where something didn't happen.

-Ashe, 4D

That something was time freezing, but only the player Ashe noticed. His vision as Ashton in the candlelit hall dulled as an alert from Tria came up. 'Immersion session ending at scheduled time. Thank you for playing.'

Then it all dissolved away until he became aware of the chair moving away from him. There was a moment of grogginess as he tried to recall what this scheduled end was for. Pulling the browser screen over, he saw his own note. 'Stop for party at Jubilee.'

"Oh right, the party!" He got out of the immersion chair and left his game room. He automatically turned left, but then reminded himself that he wasn't at his parent's house any more. In his house, his closet was to the right, at the end of the upstairs hall. Ashe entered and shut the door. Technically, he didn't have to as he was living alone. He was just used to doing so.

The room was walled with mirrors and well lit. Green text began to appear on the back mirror. 'Select saved appearance or design a new one?'

He chose a saved appearance and then went to the cosplay file. Some more selections brought up his Eternal Sphere characters. He had two, although one was now full-auto and he couldn't log into it anymore. That one was a traveling merchant on Elicoor II, his training character. Every child got assigned a training character; they were limited in what they could do, but it taught one how to operate the Eternal Sphere and, more importantly, the etiquette for players. Because he had played remarkably the last few years, earning in-game success and fame, he had been allowed to take on a challenge play-through already. Drawn to the idea of a challenge, he had taken the Ill Luck build as the one that seemed best.

However, he wasn't able to run two characters at once yet. Thus, his active character was Ashton, on a different planet. He selected that one.

His hair was already black and of the appropriate length. His eyes were the right color too, so the closet did not touch either of those. Instead, it altered the structure, color, and mass of his clothes in order to mimic the traveling outfit that Ashton wore. The closet wouldn't give him the two swords, though, or any armor. That was illegal. Not only that, but it was lighter than the actual clothes. Well, actual being the virtual reality actual. Ashe wasn't physically used to wearing the multiple layers that Ashton was.

Once it was done, he left the closet and ran towards the stairs. But he managed a misstep and stumbled at the top step. For a moment, he was facing a fall down the stairs. It was frightening to face real pain.

But then the house picked up on his clumsiness and quickly caught him with a grav-mod bubble. It set him at the bottom of the stairs and held on for a moment to wait for his mind and body to calm then. Then it restored him to normal gravity.

"Good thing you are okay," the robotic butler said, coming down the stairs. "You should be more careful."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was just a bit excited."

"There is no need to rush. You have plenty of time and there is no punishment for being late to a party."

He blushed. "Um yeah. I'll be going now."

"Have a good time."

On his way out, he picked up the flyer from a small table by the door. He then walked along the streets of his home block. It was absolutely gorgeous out here today. Then again, it was always gorgeous. Blue and purple flowers were blooming in neat beds. The walkway was clean, made to appear and feel like grass, but more hygienic. Beside every home, there was a garden that could grow whatever the homeowner wished. And at every crossing, there was an elegant water fountain. Today, every fountain was topped by a merman wielding a trident.

Ashe arrived at the transport station and waved at the uniformed woman working there. "Good day," she replied with a smug smile. "How may I serve you today?"

"Hi, I'd like the transport to…" he checked the flyer, "Jubilee Square." He handed over the flyer.

She looked at it. "Oh, how fun. I hadn't heard." She passed it back, then touched a keypad on a post near her. "Okay, you're approved to transfer to Jubilee Square. I hope you have a good time."

He grinned, then stepped into the transporter circle. For a moment, there was an odd sensation of movement without moving. For this reason, all transporters had been built identically and all transporter staff was required to dress and look identical. Ashe waved at the next transport girl, then went to enter Jubilee Square.

As each square had their own parameters, Jubilee had a nighttime sky. There were many playfully shaped buildings, all shops and bars. Colorful paper lanterns (or very safe copies of such) were string overhead to provide lighting and mood. Already there was party music playing and many people mingling in costume. But to get in, he needed to confront a woman in rainbow curls and a silver dress that was pretty much made up of slivers of material.

"Hello, and welcome to Jubilee Square's Color Festival," she sang. "Do you have a flyer?"

"Yes, I do." He handed it over to her.

She checked it, then checked the security terminal by her to make sure he was old enough. "All right, you'll all clear to go. Have fun!"

Nodding to her, Ashe went on into the square itself. It was so different from any other place on 4D that he had ever been to. As he was trying to decide what to do, a woman sprang on him, wrapping her arms around him. "Hi! First time to this kind of party, huh?"

He tried to look at her, but all he could see was her face, with a pink painted nose, red glitter eyeshadow, peach eyes, and attached whiskers. "Hi… yeah, how can you tell?"

She hopped back, letting him see that she was wearing a red bikini with pink fur fringe, red slippers with pink pom-poms, a pink fluffy bunny tail, and pink fluffy bunny ears. "Cause you're looking at everything for the first time," then giggled. "Would you like a bunny buddy for the night?"

"Do you work here?" he asked.

"I wish," she said, dropping the cutesy act for a bit. "No, I'm just attending the party too. But it's no fun alone. Pwease come with me?" She put her hands together and gave him wide eyes.

He grinned. "Sure thing."


	5. Hardcore vs Casual

**Chapter 5: Hardcore vs Casual**

-Dias, Cross countryside

Dias returned his katana to its sheath. In front of him was a wolf monster that had recently been decapitated; its legs were still twitching. Just beyond the wolf was another four wolf monsters, skidding to a stop. They were changing their minds from 'weak foe, let's gang up on him!' to 'oh shoot, he's not weak!'. The four remaining monsters looked at him dumbly.

"Go home, unless you want to meet his fate," he said sternly. Then he turned and kept going down the path.

The four slunk away with their tails between their legs. Off to his right, the blue haired warrior could see the road off in the distance. Monsters and thieves were more likely to attack a traveler that was off the road. That was fine, though. As he had to keep alert and fight every so often, it sharpened his skills. Plus he wouldn't be bothered by groups looking for guards. He didn't mind helping, but he didn't want work with others. That was a risk he didn't want to take.

Right now, he needed to get to Lacour Castle. It would be faster to cross the continents on a horse-drawn cart, but then he'd have to take care of the horse. Plus, horses were a large expense in acquiring, feeding, shoeing, caring for, and such. The investment would be lost in the highly likely situation of horse thieves. Although, sometimes he thought of using a horse just to act as bait for bandit gangs…

Not this time. Dias would walk to Herlie and get a ride to the Lacour continent. The famous Lacour Tournament of Arms was coming up and he was finally old enough to qualify. While his name was earning a reputation for greatness, he hadn't had a chance like this to prove himself. Besides, making it to the semi-finals meant that one got to keep the Lacour quality weapons and armor that the sponsors gave the entrants. That made the whole thing worthwhile.

Not much else happened that day. He expected to reach the crossroads town of Mars in a few days. While there, he could replenish his supplies and get rid of some of the junk treasures he had picked up on this trip into Lagauss.

-Dano, 4D

_Planet-Expel_

_Character- Dias Flac_

_Style- adventure (specialist class: iai-jutsu swordsman)_

_Quest status: None currently_

There was one problem with attempting to master a character class. That problem was grinding. Especially in the Eternal Sphere, there were no shortcuts. A player could make an ideal set-up in character creation and lay out the foundation for a great warrior, wizard, merchant, or whatever. But once the game began, it required in-game years of practice, lessons, and grind sessions. Aside from hackers, who cheated and made their characters perfect.

Thankfully, the Eternal Sphere Company took strong actions against hackers. It made it easier for hardworking players like Dano to shine. Dano only ever played one character at a time, although he was cleared for more. He worried about every single detail and every single stat when creating one. After picking a particular style of play, he geared everything to mastering that style. He picked his quests carefully, he went through long periods of training, and he optimized every visit to the Eternal Sphere towards making his character stronger and better.

But even a serious player like himself had to take a break from the grind every now and then. After deciding to log off when it was apparently a quiet day for Dias, Dano checked into the OoC forums for Expel. After reading through several topics he was following, and commenting on a couple, he checked into the leader boards. Specifically, the Prestige lists. On the Expel Player Prestige list, he found himself at number 5. That would change once the Tournament came about.

What interested him more was the Character Prestige list.

17. Dias Flac – specialist swordsman/adventure

18. Claude Kenni – Accidental hero/adventure

Dano tapped his fingers on the arm of the immersion chair. So they'd finally swapped positions. Not that long ago, Claude had jumped way up the Character Prestige list due to some incidents in Arlia and Salva. It didn't make much sense, as the two towns were small enough that doing events there shouldn't increase prestige that much. He had even jumped above Dias, which annoyed Dano since he couldn't figure out who played Claude. That, and this character was an 'accidental hero'.

To his detail-obsessive mind, getting the label accidental hero was a sign of sloppiness. Sure, such characters were interesting to watch on later network playbacks. But they were hardly optimized. The worst was when he found an accidental hero that was obviously the work of a casual player. The casuals didn't appreciate the time and effort the serious players took, thinking that anyone should be capable of producing a hero. And they didn't appreciate what players like himself had to endure to become so strong.

At any rate, it seemed that 'Claude' would most likely become old news fast and drop back down the Prestige charts. Still, who was playing him?

Well, that wasn't important. He got out of his immersion chair, stretched, then called out, "Butler!"

His robotic butler soon appeared. "Yes Master Dano?"

"Get me the jigsaw puzzle database in the living room. I want a new one."

"Yes, right away."

"Hopefully one that's difficult this time," he said to himself as he headed into the living room.

-C.J., 4D

Teeny tiny little squares, thousands of them. The white threads that made up the fabric were held taunt by the embroidery ring. Guiding a dark green thread, C.J. made a pattern of x's. X, x, x… oh darn, that wasn't right. She undid the last few stitches, then tried again. Then the needle's sharp end pricked her finger.

She winced for a second before realizing that she had felt only a dull poke. The needle had sensed it was touching flesh and had dulled instantly. In the Eternal Sphere, she would now have a nice bubble of blood coming from her finger. Not here in 4D. There was no pain here.

After a few minutes, she had completed a green maple leaf on the fabric. Pleased, she showed it to her butler. "I did it."

"Very good, m'am," the robot replied.

"Oh, you don't care," she said dismissively. "You're just programmed to say that. Still, it is nice. It could be a fun hobby to get into. Nice, productive, and time consuming."

"It is still something of an unneeded chore, so it could be a hobby," the robot noted. "You need to check into the Eternal Sphere; Celine has almost reached her destination."

"All right." She put the embroidery supplies on the table, then got up to leave the room. "Leave these things here for now. I'll want to look at them later."

"Yes, m'am."

As she went to her game room, C.J. felt happy. If she could complete enough embroidery projects, she could claim it as her new hobby and get the game restriction lifted. Then she could keep playing Celine past the wedding. And the sewing wasn't that bad. It could become quite the immersive hobby, with lots of branches to explore. It would end her problem of boredom, at least.

-Celine, Mars

Mars was a fairly quiet village, shaded by towering trees. It looked no different than any other, with a scattering of buildings around a wide and winding way. What made it distinct was the earth, the air, and the forest around it. The area of Mars was, for some reason, especially vibrant with magic. Heraldry users found their powers increased in this place, so they had gathered naturally to study here. Many of the young people here dressed like Celine did, in light clothing that displayed their crest tattoos. Older folks generally went for long flowing robes.

Celine spoke with one of the stable owners she knew to care for the horses the castle had loaned them. It was her, Rena, Claude, and a knight sent to guard Celine. While she probably didn't need the guard, it had taken so much talk from her and Chris just to get her allowed to go to Mars and Clik that she gave up on resisting a guard. Preparations for a royal wedding were so busy and exacting that it made her head whirl. She was glad to be back in quiet little Mars.

As it was evening, Rena and Claude went to the inn to check in for the night. "Thanks again for seeing us to the port," Rena said.

"It's no trouble, darling. Besides, you helped get me and Chris together and I cannot thank you enough for that. Good night, both of you."

Claude nodded; he looked tired enough that she was fairly certain that there was nothing untoward about them staying in the same room. Apparently they weren't a couple. At least not yet. Celine could see little signs that they were interested in each other, like how easily they talked. Besides, Rena could always throw a spell anvil at him if he got too frisky.

After they parted, Celine and her guard went northeast to her parents' home. Her mother Labe answered their knock. "Oh Celine, how good to see you again. And this is?"

"This is Kevin, my bodyguard," she told him.

Kevin saluted. He wore full body armor of yellow tan with a blue gemstone on the helmet. By that, he was marked as a high-ranking knight, someone assigned to guard important people. But it hindered him from bowing much, so he just saluted instead.

She looked deeply puzzled. "Bodyguard? But isn't he a castle knight?"

"Yes mother. The truth is," she was unable to suppress a grin as she took her mother's hand, "I'm getting married in a couple of weeks to Chris."

"Really? How wonderful. Let's go tell your father. You may come in, Kevin. Eglas!"

"That isn't all," Celine said as she and the knight came into the house. A fire in the fireplace lit up the room already, keeping things warm. "It turns out that Chris is actually Prince Cross! He had to stay behind to help with preparations, but I wanted to tell you myself. That's why they sent Kevin with me."

"Mercy," was all Labe would say, although she started smiling. "I can't believe it almost, but it came from you. I'm so happy for you."

"What is it?" Celine's father said as he came downstairs.

It was a very happy evening at their home.

-Ashton, Port Herlie

It was a foggy morning, the water that seemed like a soup broth. Ashton went ahead and crossed the plaza to Eleanor's home. Would anyone be up? Curious, he knocked lightly.

Bowman opened the door almost immediately. "I thought it was you."

He smiled. "Good morning. How are things?"

"Pretty good."

Without warning, a pink haired girl came into the doorway. She smiled. "Good morning, big brother Ashton." She came over and hugged him at the waist.

He patted her head. "Good morning, Eleanor. You made it down the stairs."

"Mr. Bowman helped me, but I walked down this time."

"It's quite the miraculous recovery," Bowman said. "But you still need to eat your breakfast."

She let go of Ashton. "Oh, okay."

"Actually," Ashton interrupted, "I came by because I have to be leaving. I have some business to take care of in Mars."

"Aw, you're leaving already?" she asked, starting a pout.

"I'm sorry, but it's something I have to get done. And I've got other places to go and things to do now. But I'll send you a letter when I can and tell you what I'm doing."

"Really, you promise?"

Ashton nodded. "I promise."

Eleanor smiled. "Good. And you can come visit whenever you like. Have a safe trip, big brother." She then walked back into the house. She was slow, but it was more walking that Ashton had ever seen her do.

But Bowman wasn't quite so trusting. He shut the door partly, but stayed outside. "About this business of yours… I said that her recovery was miraculous. Does it have anything to do with the Lasguss phoenix?"

Feeling his ears get warm, he hunched up his shoulders. "How did you…?"

"Although, these things shouldn't be talked about openly," the herbalist interrupted. "Such spirits… they can be fickle and go back on their word if they get bored or feel betrayed. You be careful now, and keep your spirit strong"

Ashton bowed out of respect. "Okay, I will. And thank you for everything. It's been good working with you."

Bowman smiled and offered a handshake. "You too, Ashton. If you ever need my help or just happen to be near Linga, don't be afraid to drop in. I'll be crossing back over the sea today, so I'll be at my pharmacy."

"All right. Goodbye and have a safe trip."

"Goodbye." He then went back in the house. Ashton left Port Herlie alone.

An early morning wagon was setting out as he walked along the stone road. Although they offered wages if he would come along as a guard, Ashton merely waved them on and wished them safe journey. It wasn't until the wagon's clatter died off that he heard great wings flying above him.

XINE emerged from the fog and landed on the road. "It is done."

He bowed, this time more formally. "Yes, thank you your highness."

"So, about the price you must pay for my help… I have watched you and considered this deeply." He paused.

Nervous, Ashton watched the giant green bird. He didn't dare interrupt, out of fear of harm to himself or to Eleanor. But what would this price be?

"Keep on down this road," XINE instructed. "Turn south at Mars and go down to Salva. There is a demon dragon that lives deep within Salva Drift. It is of one body, but two minds. Normally, it does nothing. However, recent mining has uncovered the shaft of Energy Stone that it lives near. It has been attacking the miners and terrorizing the village of Salva for a few weeks now. You are to go there and take care of the dragon."

"Take care of the demon dragon?" Ashton echoed.

"Right. That is the price you will pay. There will be no backing out of this." XINE seemed satisfied with this and flew back up into the morning fog.

Demon dragon… he hadn't fought a normal dragon before, much less a demon dragon. But that didn't sound too bad. He was pretty sure that he could handle slaying a dragon. Besides, the village of Salva might even give him a reward for taking care of its problem. All around, that seemed to be a good deal.

Ashton figured that he'd better stop in Mars on the way. It wouldn't hurt to read up some on demonic dragons, just in case there was some nasty surprise in wait. A little preparedness would go a long way.

-Leon, Lacour Castle Heraldic Science Laboratory

The head researcher of the Lacour Heraldic Science Laboratory was faced with a problem. It wasn't that he was short. Sure, even the shortest of lab coats fell down to his ankles and he had to be careful not to make any embarrassing clumsiness. But he had his work table and stool shortened so that he could work and sit comfortably.

It wasn't that he was young. At least, not to him. Other researchers were not pleased that a twelve-year-old had been recognized as the best researcher at the castle. It might be a problem in some time, given that adolescence wasn't that far off and tended to make people act funny. For right now, he didn't care.

And it certainly wasn't his odd looks. Everyone else at the castle was pretty normal and he… well, he had feline ears coated in light blue fur, to match his hair, as well as a feline tail, which was long enough that he could curl it about his waist like a belt. It was just an odd accident with his mother experimenting in certain heraldry arts when she was pregnant with him.

No, Leon's problem was that his father was best known for inventing the flushing toilet.

It was one of those things that, yeah, it was useful and could change things greatly. But it was so mundane, used for something that anyone proper considered rude to talk about. And it was currently too expensive for just anybody to go out and buy. Leon didn't think he could do much about his father's reputation. But he knew that he could do something to make sure that his was much better than that.

At his workstation, Leon observed his most recent experiment. He read his notes, then adjusted a set of heraldry crystals. H-crystals, as well as some kinds of molds, plants, and animals, were known to produce light in dark caves and waters. They could also be used as focus point for magic, or stabilizers to continue a magic. After taking several measurements to make sure everything was exact, he attached another H-crystal to its slot. It was larger than the others and, like them, currently dim.

Now that it was ready, he cast a spell over the two sets of smaller H-crystals. It was a very minor spell, not much use for anything. But put into the crystals, the spell got focused into the thin glass tube that made up a circle. Magic began to move within the tube and, after a second, the larger H-crystal began glowing. It was faint at first. After he recorded the light rating of a quarter of a candle, he noticed that the glow had increased.

This was unexpected. The glow kept increasing. And then, something utterly improbable occurred. Within the tube, a small white thing appeared. It raced around and around the tube, going faster as the larger H-crystal brightened to around five candles. The tube began to vibrate, shaking against the stand that kept it steady. Then, it burst in three places, blasting out a reasonable gust that scattered his papers and whipped his hair around. His ears twitched in physical irritation.

And then it died, the H-crystals all going dim.

Leon stared at the tube for a moment. Then he scrambled around trying to get his papers back together. "Where's that thing!"

"Is everything all right, Master Leon?" one of the other researchers asked. He was an older man, but tall. Only a few wispy gray hairs hung onto the sides of his head. He picked up a few papers that were further away and handed them over.

"It's all right, Nicolas," Leon insisted, tossing the papers aside and letting the end of his tail twitch. "It could be great. Something unexpected happened during my experiment."

"What happened? There was an increase in magic over here without any more crests being drawn."

"I know, that's what could be great." He shuffled through the papers until he found the design and passed it over to Nicolas. Then he spotted it, a tiny white object that was now fluttering to the ground. "It was supposed to conduct energy, but it somehow was drawing it from another source. Gotcha." He snatched the thing before it could hit the ground.

"Like lightning magic?" the researcher asked, looking over Leon's design concept.

He snorted. "Lightning? You can't conduct that very far. It's too powerful and melts any metal wire you put enough of its energy in. No, this is conducting vacuum heraldry energy." He opened his hands and was careful with his breath as he looked at the thing. It had an irregular jagged shape, with a ripped edge. It was flat, with barely any depth. White and dry, a quick pinch showed what it was. "Just a piece of paper… but it popped out of nowhere."

"You got a paper scrap from a vacuum?" Nicolas asked, sounding keenly interested.

Leon straightened up proudly. He liked when people acknowledged him. "Yeah, and I'm sure I'll figure it out with some study. See, vacuum magic works by calling up a point of nothingness, which pulls at what is around it to become something. That's how it pulls energy from a target, or creates a backwards flow wind. But I figured, what would happen if you called up two vacuum points within an enclosed space? They would both draw from each other, creating a stable flow of energy. At least, that was my theory.

"But then this shows otherwise," he said, holding out the paper scrap. "I was going to use the stable flow of energy to cause a light-emitting reaction in this star-aligned crystal. I got that, but then the two vacuum points started pulling in energy from somewhere else. And not just energy, it also got this bit of material. It gained enough power to break this glass circle… which it wasn't that strong in the first place, I admit, but the force to break it was… more than I put into it." He disliked not having a figure for the power increase, but he hadn't yet done the sums on it.

"Hmm… it's not quite enough for a weapon."

Leon felt annoyed. "I know, I know. The King wants us to be designing a weapon to fend off the demons. I can do that no problem, I've just got interest in this concept right now and I want to work it out before focusing on weapons."

Nicolas rubbed his chin. "Although… what would happen if you got a stronger conducting device and put in more vacuum points? Would it increase the energy created? And what exactly is it drawing off of?"

"Probably the same source as all other heraldry," Leon stated. "Many spells create an energy or material temporarily, which dissipates as soon as the crest is broken or the magician tires. Where this energy comes from, though, is still unknown." The first part of his elder's (but not superior's) comment then hit him. "If we were to increase the vacuum points… I don't know, it could increase the created energy. That failed and just made an annoying gust, but if there were more energy stored, it could be weaponized."

And make a big explosion of energy? Leon felt excited; that would have to be seen, but it could be so great! However, he couldn't give that as his reason to conduct the experiment. That was childish. He wouldn't be childish. He was the lead researcher of the lab, after all.

"I think we've got something that could handle it," Leon said. "But we'd best take this experiment out of the castle. I'll ask Momma and Papa if we can go out into the countryside this evening to try.

-?, outside of Lacour Castle City

Nicolas had left far earlier than the rest of the researchers. When he was out on the road, with only a large rabbit monster to witness, he pulled out his communicator band. After a second, its red light turned green. "This is Nicolas with a new report and question."

"State your report," a voice answered him.

"Most of the researchers are on unsuitable designs, but the child has an interesting concept that I'm not familiar with. He's causing two vacuums to pull on each other to create a power draw from larger black holes. The source is my theory, but he has gotten a bit of paper matter out of it as well."

"That is a known concept, although not many used it seriously. It could be altered for our purposes."

"Do I have permission to intervene in the matter?"

"Explain what he has exactly and I'll explain what can be done."

They spent a good hour exchanging information that would have bewildered any of the Lacour lab researchers, even Leon and his parents. In the end, Nicolas got a crest design drawn up and they had agreed to use the child's plans. He managed to put his communicator out of sight as the others came out of the city.

Florence, Leon's mother, smiled at him. "Enjoying the weather, Nicolas?"

Smiling back, at least on the outside, he nodded. "Quite. It's good to get out on a walk every now and then."

He followed them out to the experiment site.

-Leon, Lacour countryside

The sun was setting by the time they were ready to set up the three-point experiment. Leon could barely contain his excitement, as all of the researchers had come out to see. On the way, he had to consciously remind himself not to hop or skip about. Any other child would have done so, but he wasn't any other child. He was a genius, a prodigy. He had a reputation to upkeep.

But if he had his way, he'd be laughing and hopping around now.

They reached a deserted patch of land, too rocky to be farmed and too brown for nature lovers. Leon and his parents set up a copper pipe made into a circle. To preserve the set up, they installed a valve that could be opened to release the energy build-up. Then they added three pairs of crystals at set points to maintain the vacuums once they were created. To keep track of the energy, they placed three glow crystals, mostly to keep a balanced flow.

While the three did that, the other researchers set up shielding spells to protect against the energy. They wanted to direct it from the escape valve, but they didn't know how exactly this energy would be released. "Are you ready back there?" Leon called to them.

"Ready, Master Leon," one of the younger researchers called.

Although Leon was the lead researcher, Murdoch was still his father. "Okay, it's a base vacuum spell in three… two… one… go!"

The heraldry tattoos on the back of Leon's hands began to glow silver as he cast the small spell. Then he and his parents retreated to the others for safety as the device began working. Through the evening light, they could see the glow crystals light up at about one candle. The glow quickly increased. Nothing seemed to change around it, though. What grasses were there did not die. The rocks did not crumble or vanish. But the energy got to the point where it made the copper hum and glow itself. Around the circular device, water began to condense, then hiss when it touched the metal.

Then the valve burst. This time, there was a orange copper glow as bursts of something not quite wind and not quite sparks shot out. The spray went everywhere, making a 'shhhheeeemmm' sound. A scraggly bush nearby was soon shredded to bits. Weaker rocks met the same fate. A few 'sparks' hit the copper tubing and left dents. After a few seconds, the fountain of energy was spent and things quieted down.

"That was great, wasn't it Papa?" Leon asked, grinning in spite of himself.

"Yes it was… let's leave it be for a while, though, it still looks dangerously hot."

"That was incredible," another researcher exclaimed. "If we could figure out more behind how this works, it could do great things."

"If you could find a way to direct that energy," Nicolas chimed in, "it could make for an effective weapon."

Weapon. Something about the old man's words stirred Leon's mind. Ideas seemed to be pulled out of nowhere to his mind, like the paper that had gotten into his double-vacuum glass tube. He could make something great out of this, which would drive away the demons and make him famous. Then everyone would forget about his father's toilet contribution to society and praise his work instead.

"It's getting late though," Florence said, putting her hand on Leon's shoulder. "We at least should go back in."

"Right, we'll clean up this experiment before anyone finds it," Murdoch agreed.

"All right." But Leon wasn't all that tired. All the way back, he talked with his mother, sometimes jumping from one idea to the next so fast that she just laughed and said she couldn't keep up with him mentally.

Before he could get to writing those ideas down, though, he somehow fell asleep. All well. It just made tomorrow a busier day.

-Enlo, 4D

_Planet-Expel_

_Character- Leon Geeste_

_Style- scientific discovery, runology discovery, child_

_Quest Status: Design weapon for King Lacour, research vacuum magic technology_

As the immersion chair let go of Enlo, he swept aside his light brown hair and said, "Tria, run all scanners over the evening section of the session I just played."

The browser screen came over. It wasn't the standard neutral blue everyone else started with, rather a soft silver. Although the immersion chair was not built with a voice, his replied, "Carrying out scans now."

Something odd had happened with Leon just now. Enlo had been pretty happy with the pseudo-electricity discovery until after the three-point experiment. Although he hadn't felt it at first because of the child's excitement, he found certain parts of it suspicious. He knew Leon was incredibly capable. He had designed Leon to be incredibly capable. However, sometimes the phrase 'divine inspiration' meant hacking. Enlo did not want to be caught with any known sign of hacking on his account.

"All scans complete," his browser stated, bringing up a screen of results. Enlo ran over the programming, using his sharp mind as a fine-toothed comb. There were no outright problems.

But there was something off. Under status, Leon was listed as being under the Incredibly Inspired effect. The duration left was 254 hours, over ten and a half days worth.

"Give me details on that Incredibly Inspired effect," Enlo ordered. That was something that could be granted with in-game resources. Inspired was simply a 2 times added ability for the duration of the blessing. However, Incredibly made it 10 times added ability. And for that length of time? Normally the Inspired effects only lasted a few hours. Not days. At that duration, it carried a risk on inflicting insanity.

Rubbing his hands together, he hoped that wouldn't happen. He had invested a lot of care into this character. Getting an insanity added on would ruin all of his work, not to mention be disappointing.

Just that? No. Something more like heartbreaking.

He got the programming details and began going through them. Supposedly, only long-time Sphere employees could interpret the Eternal Sphere's programming without assistance. It wasn't just in two dimensional text. It was in four dimensions. The ES programming had to literally be read in depth and it changed constantly from moment to moment. Even this copy of a past event was altering as he interpreted it.

After a few minutes, he learned that the status had been given after the experiment had ended. But even for him, it was difficult to tell who had given it, if any. There were sometimes random events like this. However, the form of the spell use interested him. It didn't match the programming around it. Not blatantly. It was like a subtle shade of difference, as if the spell had been designed on another planet. Whoever it was wasn't a native of Expel. But it wasn't a staff member of the Sphere Company either.

He rubbed his eyes. "Ugh. I hope it's random. Tria, save this data in the Flare Shield files. Butler!"

His robotic butler came skidding into the room. "Aye-aye, captain! I have swabbed the decks and polished the brass. Is there someone I need to send down the plank?"

"Not now, you trigger-happy sea swine. Get my mug filled and set up my cabin." He cracked his knuckles. "I've got some pirate business to take care of."

"Jolly good, captain." It rushed off to do so.

In some ways, hacking made life more interesting. One just had to be careful about how it was done. Punishment for hackers these days was downright brutal. Still, it was what Enlo did best.

* * *

_Missed last week due to RL stuff. Anyhow... SO2 is notorious for having a rambling story. You're told to go check out the Sorcery Globe in El, which seems straightforward. But after hours of stops, 'side quests', and distractions, you get... well, you'll see. I apologize partway for the ramble-y nature of this, but some of it is due to the source material._

_So we know two more players now. Yayz.  
_


	6. Blissful City Clik

**Chapter 6: Blissful City Clik**

-Celine, outside of Clik

The group of four approached the port town on a horse-drawn cart. Two brown horses plodded along the road; thus far, they had been well-behaved. Around them, the weather was calm without a cloud in the sky. Near town, they passed a group of wagons that was preparing the set out. "Good afternoon to you folks!" the leader called.

"Good afternoon," Claude called back. He was seated behind the driver's bench, to help watch for bandits approaching from behind.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for more employment as trade guards, would you?"

He shook his head. "No, we're heading elsewhere. Sorry."

"It's all right." He turned back to the rest. "It's so hard to get enough guards lately."

They were close enough that they slowed their horses. "They seem to have guards already," he said to Celine, who was handling the horses for now.

"It's been dangerous traveling these past five months," she replied. "Ever since the Sorcery Globe fell, the monsters are more active and more dangerous. It was concentrated mostly in Eluria, but it's spread to here. They have to keep up their trades routes, but they don't want the risk."

"That's true." He waited, then hopped out as they came closer to the city gate.

They found a stable near the entrance; the owner had wanted charge them a ridiculous price, but then Kevin showed an order that they were on royal business. As they walked under the entryway arch, the first area they saw was a stone road that spiraled up to a hill. A grand house stood on top of that hill, with others dotted alongside the road. A large inn was right by the gate. Past a riverway, the road started downward and disappeared behind the hill.

"Have either of you ever been to Clik?" Celine asked.

"No," Claude said.

"Me either." Rena then put her hand on Claude's shoulder. "But I thought you were from another continent. You didn't recognize Herlie so you must have come into Cross from here."

He tried to make a show of messing with his red headband, but Celine could see he was blushing. "Well I told you… I can't really explain it. I've just been traveling… a long ways."

"He says he's from somewhere called Urth," Rena said.

"Now that's an odd name," Celine said. "I hadn't heard of it."

"It's nothing," he said in a defeated tone, looking at the ground. He seemed oddly lost at that moment, although Celine couldn't think of why.

She felt it was better not to press the issue. She wanted to leave them as a friend, not someone who made him feel uncomfortable. "Anyhow, Clik is a marvelous place. It's very cultured. There are certain kinds of treasure that I'd only sell in Clik. And the Fountain Plaza is simply exquisite. If you get some time, you really should try out some of the food the vendors cook there."

"I've always wanted to see this place," Rena said, putting her hand to her mouth to disguise a girlish smile. "It might be kind of late for a ship to head out, but we should still check with the docks."

"Sure," Claude said, although his mind was still off thinking of something.

They walked along the spiraling road, which eventually came to a long mural. Other cities might have displayed a war monument or the story of their founding. However, Clik had decided to display this mural of dancing figures, all brightly colored with bold musical notes scattered over their heads and under their feet. Rena and Celine were quickly engaged in talking about which figure they liked best.

At the end of the road, they came to Fountain Plaza. The central figure was a twenty-five foot tall statue of an angel, depicted with its hands in prayer. Water spouted up to its waist, then fell into a large reflective pool. Around it were benches and carts, where many vendors called out their wares, trying to attract customers. The plaza was made of stone too, wide and circular. Thousands of people could have gathered here. Beyond that were many classy shops, selling all sorts of goods. At one end, a great many stairs led up a cliff to an overlook. At the other end, there were flags indicating that the docks were past there.

"Wow, this is busier than Salva on a festival day," Rena said, trying to look at all the action.

"And this is just a regular old day to them," Celine said, slightly teasing. "You ought to see it during their celebration of the angels. I went last year and there were so many lights and music, dancing… it was quite wonderful."

"I imagine."

"Kind of old world," Claude seemed to mumble, but Celine figured she must have misheard him. This was far from old world, most definitely the new age.

They passed though the crowd and entered the dock area. It was massive. Since the town supplied the workforce, the entire bay was broken up into piers, warehouses, and repair docks. Some boats were headed out to catch some evening fishing, while other came in to deliver goods and people. Claude seemed interested in the ships while Rena was looking over everything eagerly.

"Young lady," Kevin said, gently tapping Rena's shoulder.

"Hmm, what is it Kevin?"

"You will want to put your knuckle weapons back on," he advised. "And be cautious. In this kind of place, make yourself less of a target."

"Oh, all right. Thank you." She pulled a pair of clawed gloves and slipped them on.

In the meantime, Celine had found a dock supervisor. "Excuse me sir, but my friends would like to find a ship heading to Port Tenue of Eluria."

He rubbed his chin. "Eluria, huh? Not many ships go there anymore."

"They're going with the blessings of the King," Kevin said. "Show him your passport."

"Sure," Claude said, then took it out of his pack. It was an official signed, sealed, and dated document.

The dock supervisor held it up and titled it towards the sun, to see the heraldry marks that confirmed it. "My goodness, it is a real one. Sorry, but I see so many fakes come through trying to avoid taxes." He handed back the passport, then pointed to the nearest pier. "Best option you have is Captain Ishmael over there, on the White Whale. He's taking some other adventurers up there tomorrow. You'd better hurry as to get a place in the ship, though."

"All right," Rena said.

"Is that really what the ship is called, the White Whale?" Claude asked, some smile coming onto his face.

"Yeah," the supervisor said, puzzled. "Why would you ask?"

"Just some old joke, nothing special." He was still chuckling as they walked away.

Despite the name, the White Whale was a brown and red wooden ship. Celine was thinking that it was a good ship when something didn't happen.

-C.J., 4D

The dock blurred as C.J. got an alert. 'You have a visitor: Dr. Hall.'

Again? She got out of her chair, waited a minute to shake the feeling that there should be scent of seawater around her, then went to the living room. The doctor was there with his briefcase, looking over an illusion screen of information. When she came by, he looked up, smiled, and offered a handshake. "Hello again, C.J.. I hope you've been doing well."

After the handshake, she sat in the couch near him. "I have been, thanks. I was in the middle of something in the Eternal Sphere though."

"Ah, well I'm just checking in on you, so we won't take long. What else have you been doing?"

"I've tried out embroidery lately," she said, indicating her new craft drawers. She picked up a sampler piece that she was working on. It was supposed to be an alphabet, numbers, and flowers, but it was much larger than the others she had done. She was up to 'J' thus far. "It's quite interesting, a mixture of focus and relaxing."

"I see. Still something of a chore."

"If you view it that way," she insisted. "I like having something to show for this hobby. When I get better, I might display them instead of those pictures." Right now, she had some photos of solar sailboats and some paintings of flowers. They were nice, but her own work would be something to take pride in.

Dr. Hall considered it. "Some people really stick to the sewing hobbies, but many pass on to other interests. We'll see how you do."

Unfortunately, nothing she said seemed to sway him on lifting the Sphere restrictions. It was unfair, she thought after he left. Why was he giving her such trouble about finding something to do? The suggestion of starting over on their first meeting was suspicious too. No matter what problems she'd encountered in the past, starting over was usually the last suggestion and had only been made once to her, when her husband had decided to do so. This didn't seem right. Maybe there had been some goof-up in her butler's reports.

Well, she'd get properly mad about this later. Celine was supposed to do some shopping for the wedding supplies in Clik. While most of it could be left to auto, she wanted to be there for at least one thing.

C.J. used Tria to put in a maintenance order on her butler, then logged back in.

-Celine, Clik

For a second, Celine felt lost. What was she doing right now? She was in a clothing store…

It didn't take too long for her to get her bearings back. Right, Claude and Rena had gotten a place on the White Whale under Captain Ishmael. They weren't leaving until tomorrow, but since the captain wanted to pull out early, the passengers were going to sleep in their cabins instead of at the inns. Since they had the afternoon and evening to spend, they were going to other stores to make sure they had plenty of supplies and look for any helpful tools.

As for her, she had a list of things to pick up while she was here. Much of the wedding supplies would come from the castle town itself, but there were a few things that the advisers, dressmakers, and decorators had insisted to be bought here in Clik. Since she wanted to see her new friends off on their trip, Celine had offered to go with them.

The store itself was… interesting. It claimed to be the latest in fashion, but if this was fashion, Celine didn't want to be in on it. A pink dress she was looking at seemed to be misshapen, with sleeves that would be way too long on any normal woman. Then there was this blue scrap of a dress that had mostly transparent material, save for certain areas. While she liked to show off her heraldry tattoos, there was such a thing as too much.

Thankfully, she'd been sent here for materials, not a whole outfit. She went up to the store manager, apparently the only one working at that time. "Hi, I'm here to pick up the supplies for the royal wedding." She showed the letter that proved this.

"Oh sure. I'll be back in a bit." He went through a door, then came back with a large box of fabrics. "I've already got payment for it, so if you could sign the contract, that's all we need." He pulled off the paper that the castle had sent him by pigeon as an order.

Kevin picked up the parcel while Celine signed for it. They then left to put it with the other supplies they had picked up. While the castle had given them a good set of trunks to keep things safe from thieves, Celine added to the security by setting up some H-crystals with shielding spells, so that only she or Kevin could get into the chests.

"I suggest that we go lock this into the stable for the night," Kevin said as he set the package down in one of the trunks. "Even without any shields of the castle, we might attract unwanted attention."

"Right, and the last thing we need I can just hide in my purse." They went up the spiraling road to the entrance of town, then out to leave it with the stable that was taking care of the castle's horses. Then they went back to Fountain Plaza to enter the jewelry shop.

It was a quality place, with a clean interior and many glass display cases for the pieces they had for sale. A salesperson soon found them. "Good afternoon sir, ma'm. May I help you with anything?"

"I'm looking for wedding rings," Celine said.

"For the royal wedding," Kevin interrupted before the clerk could misinterpret anything. "She's marrying the prince."

"Really? How wonderful for you. We've gotten the notice; our display for wedding rings is over here." He led them to the center potion of the back wall. There were about three dozen rings in there. One row was all simple gold and silver ones, for those who couldn't afford much. But then there were more beautiful ones with precious stones and other metals. "We've got this lovely pair over here, made of gold with a rare pink rose diamond for the lady and a white diamond for the gentleman. The stones came from Hoffman Island, but the rings were made in Hilton."

They were quite gorgeous, but she didn't want to settle on a pair just yet. "They are nice. What about this set?" She pointed to a pair two above the pink rose diamond set.

"This is a clear diamond set, identical save for the bands. The stones are from the Linga mountain range and the rings were made in Linga. There's also this set," he pointed to the one between the two. "It's a rainbow diamond pair, made by a Linga alchemist. That's a real show of craftsmanship."

"True."

Right then, there was a strange sense that something wasn't right. The glass cases rattled and the items inside trembled. In the backroom, there was a crash as something fell off a shelf. "Is everything okay back there?" the salesperson called.

"It wasn't too important!" came the reply. "How about in there?"

"Things are jostled around, but it's okay."

"At least it was just a minor earthquake," Celine said.

"Right." The salesperson opened the display cabinet and set things straight. "Any you want me to bring out while I'm in here?"

She thought about it, dismissing the minor quake for now. While these rings were nice, there was a problem. They'd all been made in Lacour. Somehow, it didn't feel right to get those. "Do you have any made here in Cross?"

He paused. "Not at the moment, I'm afraid. We sent our stock to Herlie in an exchange for many of the pieces we have on display, including these now very rare sets from Eluria."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"If you really want Cross made jewelry, I recommend going to Salva. They have the best craftsmen on the continent for jewelry without enchantments."

"Right, that's what I was thinking. Well thank you for your time." She curtsied.

"Of course, m'am."

Outside of the shop, Celine spotted Claude and Rena talking with each other. "Hello, how are you two doing?" she called over to them.

They turned and Rena waved. "Hello! We've got everything in order now. We were trying to figure out what to have for dinner."

"Well there's lots around to chose from. Take whatever you like."

Normally, she would have preferred a classy restaurant. But she had learned in her travels that street vendors in busy cities were usually good too, and cheaper. Before long, they all had something to their liking. Claude had found a steaming fresh seafood stew that came with a cornbread slice. Rena had a plate of mixed dumplings and seemed pleased with the various fillings. After some searching, Celine had found rabbit kabobs with various roasted vegetables. Kevin, not wanting to remove too much of his metallic tan armor (he mumbled something about pride and royal honors), had gotten a pita bread stuffed with barbecue meats.

"The vendor wasn't too open with what kind of meat it was," Kevin said, eying the last portion before eating it.

"Well it can't be anything deadly," Rena said in amusement.

"I think it's goat meat mixed with some other kind," the knight concluded.

Just then, another small quake hit the plaza. It too wasn't that bad; the vendors' goods swayed and the water in the fountain trembled. "Oh my goodness, what's with the earthquakes today?" Celine asked, gripping her magician's hat.

"We were in a general store when the last one hit," Rena said. "This bottle fell off a display shelf and broke and it had the most awful smell." She wrinkled her nose. "The shop owner said it was monster repellent, but I think it would repel everyone, not just monsters."

"Hopefully it's not leading to a large earthquake," Claude said. He tugged at his brown jacket. "Um, do you think I should get some new clothes while we're here? I know I look a little conspicuous in this."

While one couldn't tell at a distance, his clothes were odd up close. They had an unusual cut and were made of an unfamiliar fabric. Rena giggled. "Yeah, and no one would mistake you for the Warrior in his alien raiment again."

"Hey!" he said, but just laughed and let it go.

"Well if you want to do that," Celine said, "don't be going to that store. They had odd tastes. Try that one over by the docks."

As they were walking around the fountain, a voice cut through the crowd. "PLEASE leave now! The wind of destruction is coming! This is your last chance. Leave this city for higher ground or you will perish!"

"What is that about?" Rena asked.

"Probably some mistaken doomsday prophetess," Celine commented.

A short time later, they had cleared enough of the crowd to see the prophetess. She wore a lavender colored cloak with the hood pulled up. Some blue hairs showed underneath the fabric. Although she seemed worried and was pleading all she could, not many people were taking her seriously. "Maybe she has some mental problems," a woman said as she walked on with her boyfriend.

"The quakes are just the beginning," the prophetess said. "Soon, a destructive wind will tear through this place, knocking down buildings and tearing up the docks. Then a great cascade of water will come down upon this town, obliterating it entirely. But you have a chance to save yourselves! Leave the city now and no harm will befall you from the events of this evening! GO! There isn't much time. Please, listen to me."

"If she's right, we could be in trouble," Rena said thoughtfully, putting her hand to her pendant.

"I doubt it," Celine said. "How could just wind and water destroy a whole town just like that? A bigger earthquake, maybe."

Kevin looked up to the orange sky. "There's no storm clouds forming. She's probably mistaken."

As people began to drift away, unimpressed, the prophetess looked disappointed. "Won't you believe me?" she asked quieter. She then noticed their group as they had to get by her in order to reach the clothing store. "Oh… what do you here?"

Since she seemed to direct it at them, Claude asked, "Who do you mean?"

"It's strange; the both of you carry a different air than the rest." She scratched her chin, then pulled something out of her cloak. "Probably not them, but maybe you… take this. I hope you get to safety in time tonight." She tossed something sparkling at them.

Rena caught it. It was a bracelet of a very curious design. For the main structure, there were two golden cords weaving about in a wide braid. In the gaps were various colored gemstones. None of it looked pricey, but it did have a playful prettiness to it. "What's this?"

"Just a bit of lucky mischief," she said. "It won't do you any harm."

"Excuse me," a strange voice came from the crowd. A man brushed through people, ignoring any protests. He wore a cloak too, in dark forest green. But his cloak completely covered his body. Aside from a pair of white gloves (which seemed rather large), nothing more could be seen of him. Behind the hood, there just seemed to be shadow and two faint patches of white. "Miss Filia."

"Oh… Jibril. What are you doing here?"

"I came to retrieve you. What are you doing here? You weren't to leave."

She paled and shrank away. "I went to explore around some."

"It's not safe for you to be out here. Come, I'll take you back home." He took her hand. Although Filia seemed reluctant, she left with the strange man without a word.

"That was odd," Claude said.

"What is this?" Rena asked, turned the bracelet around in her hands. "I sense some kind of power in it."

"May I see?" Celine asked.

"Sure." She handed it over.

She gave it her critical eye. "Well, there's definitely some enchantment on it. Hmmm…" she took a moment to take a spectacle out of her side pocket; she always kept one there. When she put it to her eye, she could see crest symbols around it. "This is peculiar. I haven't seen anything like this outside of a book."

"What?" Rena asked, watching it with curious eyes.

"This particular crest… is a prayer of praise to the goddess of chance. It's not often used; praying to a chaotic god or goddess can end up doing anything to you. But this is very cunningly made. I think she's right. It won't hurt you. It'll just give you a bit of luck, at random. There shouldn't be any harm done in wearing it." As she turned it, she noted something. "Ah, it's missing a few gemstones. Well if it gives you luck, it probably won't be much. But who knows? That little bit might just help out." She handed it back to Rena. "Well the strange prophetess gave it to you. Keep it or do what you will with it."

"Right." She turned it again, then smiled. "I think it's fun and cute myself." She slipped it on her left wrist as a man with a torch walked by on his round of igniting the street lamps. "Well let's go check out that store."

It was mostly outfits that sailors preferred. Even so, it was much better than the so-called fashionable store. Celine pointed out a dark blue robe. "This would look nice on you, Claude."

He looked uncertain. "You think so…?"

"Why, what's wrong with it?" She handed the hanger to him. "Lots of people wear this kind of style in Cross.

He took it, but didn't seem too convinced. "Maybe in Cross, but… where I come from, this isn't very masculine."

"You must be from an odd place then," Kevin said. "That looks to be a pretty nice one, good for a day off wardrobe."

Blushing, he put it back on the rack. "Maybe." He turned to check out some shirts instead.

Kevin went ahead and bought the blue robe, saying that he needed a new one anyhow. Claude eventually found some shirts and pants that satisfied him, as well as a traveler's jacket. Once he paid for them, he changed into the dark brown jacket with a yellow shirt and dark brown pants. "It doesn't look much different than your other outfit," Rena noted. "But it does fit in better."

"Yeah, that's good." They walked out of the store. "Hey, anyone up for dessert?"

"I saw this crepe stand over there," Rena said, pointing to the southern side of the fountain. "It smelled so good. Let's go to that one."

True to her word, the crepe stand smelled magnificent, all kinds of fruits, cream, spices, sugar, and the crepes themselves melted together to make a mouth-watering bait. There were two workers there, one whistling while he cooked up the crepes and the other charming the customers as she filled and rolled them. "Hey, we make all our crepes right here," she said as the four came over. "Do you want any?"

Of course they did. Rena went first, asking for a strawberries and cream crepe, soon getting the luscious and pretty desert on a blue plate, with a spoon. The guys encouraged Celine to go next, so she picked a dark chocolate and raspberry filling, with whipped crème on top. Claude asked for spiced apples, which was topped with the apple syrup. Then Kevin got a gooey banana and whipped crème crepe.

"This was a magnificent idea, darling," Celine said after a few bites of her chocolate crepe.

"I think so too," she said, getting some cream on her next part of the crepe. She looked over to Claude, who was looking to the darkening sky for some reason. "Is something on your mind, Claude?"

"Hmm?" He looked down at them, then shrugged. "Not much. Just a little homesick, I guess."

"Maybe we can go by your home after we check into the Sorcery Globe," she suggested.

That didn't seem to encourage him much, strangely. "Maybe." He went back to eating his crepe, maybe to have an excuse to stop talking.

"We'll have to split up after this," Celine said. "We need to check into the inn and you'll be staying on the boat."

"Right, it's been fun." Rena smiled. "Sorry about missing the wedding, but the captain said that few boats head out to Eluria now. We have to catch this one."

"I know. Well take care of yourself, darlings. Be careful around the Sorcery Globe, but I hope you find something out."

"We'll do our best," Claude said.

"AHEM!" a voice called out over the crowd. Strangely, it did seem to be over the crowd, from above. When people looked up, they saw a strange sight. There was a man floating there.

At least, it seemed to be a man. He was spidery, with his limbs all stretched out. He seemed to be wearing body armor. However, there were no holes in this armor, not even at the helmet. And it was crimson and silver, strange colors for metal armor. That is, if it was metal. It had a visual dullness that didn't seem like steel or other armor metals.

"I AM SHIGEO," his voice boomed over them, seemingly filled with echoes. "WHILE YOUR PRIMITIVE EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND THE THING YOU CALL THE SORCERY GLOBE HAVE BEEN AMUSING, IT HAS GOTTEN TO THE POINT OF ANNOYANCE. THUS, WE ARE DESTROYING THIS PORT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU STOP SENDING SHIPS OVER FROM HERE. AND, WE'RE KIND OF BORED. THE FATE OF YOUR CITY IS COMING. THE FATE OF YOUR PLANET IS IN THE SKY."

Then he took off into the sky and vanished.

For a moment, there was a tense feeling in the crowd. No one was sure if they should panic or not. But then, nothing seemed to happen. Finally, somebody called out, "Today's been just screwy!" Others laughed and began to relax. It wasn't quite as jovial, though.

"I'd agree with him," Celine said.

But as they gave back the plates and silverware to the crepe vendors, Clik was shaken yet again. But not from the earth. No, this time the very air seemed to vibrate. Celine felt her ears pop as the air pressure plummeted. It got hard to breathe, like on the tops of mountains. Dirt and lightweight items got sucked upwards.

Now people began to panic. Unfortunately, anyone who screamed fainted or fell down gasping. Rena clasped Celine's arm, as they were closest. "Wh-what's going on? This… wind is unnatural."

"Didn't that Filia say something about wind?" Claude said. Then his expression turned serious. "We have to get to higher ground!"

Normally in a windstorm, Celine would seek the shelter of indoors or find a dip in the ground that could provide cover. In this case, she didn't argue. Claude led them to the stairs that went to the overlook cliff. Some others had the same idea, while others tried going indoors or down to the dock warehouses. Given the situation, it was a tough run. The twenty or so people who went up to the overlook were all out of breath by the time they made it up there.

And then the wind blasted downward. Even up on the outlook, people felt the unnaturally high power this wind had. Celine pulled off her hat before it could be blown off, letting her pale blond hair get blown all over. All the dirt and things that had been sucked up came plummeting back down again, faster than they would normally fall. But those weren't dangerous.

The wind itself was most dangerous. Stone and brick buildings that had withstood years of sea gales could not withstand the destructive wind coming from above. They collapsed as if crushed by invisible hands, most likely killing everyone that had sought shelter inside. From the great howl that came from the wind, one would think that the gods were angry. But there were still no clouds in the sky, or any indication of a storm.

After a few minutes, the wind died off. Celine's ears popped again now that the atmosphere had come back to normal. Down below, some buildings were still standing, although shorter than they were before. Most everything else was rubble and dust. Fountain Plaza was a mess, with the angel statue smashed and all the vendor carts squashed. Further on, the docks looked to be a total loss. Wood scraps filled the harbor and there didn't seem to be any ships left.

"Was it an attack from the Sorcery Globe demons?" someone in the crowd asked. Various others began talking amongst themselves. Several of them, mostly the children, started crying.

"Oh my word!" someone up on the highest platform yelled. "Stay up here!"

Celine went up the stairs a bit and noticed that people were looking out to sea. She got up enough to see past a tree and saw that the destruction wasn't over. While she had seen great waves before, they had all been like large bulges in the ocean. This was more like a vast wall of water, approaching Clik at an unbelievable speed. It crashed ashore with a mighty roar, demolishing anything left standing and drowning the whole town. Along with this, another quake shook the area, collapsing much of the ground Clik was built on. With a second smaller wave, the area that had once been Clik was now a litter-strewn part of the bay.

By some luck, the overlook had not collapsed to the wind, nor the tsunami, nor the earthquake. Most everyone there was upset, lamenting their losses. Celine waved her three companions down and spoke quietly. "It seems you're out of luck here."

"This is awful," Rena said, crying a bit herself out of sympathy. "It didn't seem natural."

"No wizard could demolish a city like this in such a short period of time," Celine said. "Even a group coordinating their efforts couldn't do this."

"If those demons are this strong, we'll have to redouble our efforts," Claude noted.

"You still have your passport from the king, don't you?" Kevin said. "You could use it at Herlie to cross over to Hilton and reach the Lacour continent. If his majesty King Cross sends his word ahead of you, then King Lacour would certainly assist you in reaching Eluria."

"Would that really work?" Rena asked.

He nodded. "Our kings have been at peace for many years, in good alliance."

"Sounds good." Claude looked up at the various people of Clik. "Not much we can do to help them," he said softly. "Is there a path out to the main road from here? We can check to see how the stable fared."

That seemed like the thing to do, so they climbed down the stairs to the new shoreline. There was a path that managed to keep out of the water, although it was strewn with debris. With them came six others who decided that leaving Clik was probably the best thing to do now.

Thankfully, the stables were in relatively decent shape. "But lots of fences are down and some of the buildings are damaged," one stable hand told them. "Could you help us look for runaway horses and protect the open areas from monsters?"

"Sure thing," Claude said, getting agreements from the others.

"Besides, we wouldn't want to be hooking up the horses when they're all spooked like this," Kevin added. "We can leave in the morning."

Later that evening, Claude came up to Celine. "You doing okay?"

"I'm exhausted," she said with a weary smile. "You look worn down too."

"Yeah, it's been a long day. Hey, but may I ask you about something? Do you know astronomy well?"

She nodded. "Yes, knowledge of the stars is basic instruction for sorcery. What is it?"

He pointed up to the starry sky. "I noticed a star out tonight that I don't think was out last night. It seems odd… that bright blue one up there."

When Celine looked, there was a large blue star very close to the Water Maiden constellation. It was very bright, the brightest one in the whole sky. Yet, its light shone like that of a planet, steadier than the rest. "Hmm, that's odd. From the light, you'd think it was a planet, but there's no planet that shines blue like that. It's brighter than even the Shining Eye star of Justice."

"That is the planet's fate?" Claude wondered aloud, thinking on the stranger's words.

* * *

_There's a plot NPC in Clik, a blue haired boy named Ketil, who was quite obviously skipped here. His primary purpose was to get players to explore Clik and grow to like it, right before it got utterly destroyed. Since I managed that with who I had, I skipped Ketil._

_There was also a lack of clarity of what exactly caused Clik's destruction, perhaps due to the PSX translation. There's talk of earthquakes, unnatural winds, and a tsunami. I went with all three. And no mention ever is made of the Nedian energy body, even though it's bright blue-green and should be easily seen in the Expellian night sky._


	7. Forms of Energy

**Chapter 7: Forms of Energy  
**

-Ashe, 4D

It was said that the founders of Fourth Delrina had eliminated all suffering and violence. They almost succeeded at eliminating violence. While there was a lot of violence in the Eternal Sphere, it kept any sort of violence from happening in the 4D world. And they had done pretty good with eliminating suffering as well. There were no diseases and you had to really unlucky to get hurt in an accident. Or even on purpose. With no violence, people felt safe and happy. Death was like some fairy tale and the medical network helped immensely if you got sad.

But some forms of suffering did exist. Like being made to get up before your body felt ready.

"Leave me be," Ashe grumbled as he pulled his pillow over his ears

"You said you had things to do in the Eternal Sphere today," his butler reminded him.

"It can wait, he's traveling."

"No, he's in Mars studying."

"Well I can rest a bit longer… gah, okay." This arguing with the robot had roused him enough that it was going to be hard to get back to sleep. He felt light-headed and achy. Although not quite as bad as being hungover in the Eternal Sphere, it was bad as far as 4D suffering got. "Get me some medicine first, then I'll shower. I'll be out for breakfast soon."

"As you want." The butler gave him a cloudy white drink, not thick enough to be milk but not clear enough to be pure water. Ashe drank that, then went to the bathroom.

"Think I overdid it at that last party," he grumbled. He'd made friends with the bunny girl from Jubilee Square; her name was Bonita. Bonita really liked the party scene and had invited Ashe to several more since. Last night's event had been rather wild, enough to make him feel uncomfortable at the start. After a while, he had sort of gotten into it. It had just went on too late before he realized it and now he didn't have much sleep.

He still felt bad when he was done showering, although it did help clear up his head. Then the medicine finished kicking in. The aches went away, although he didn't feel quite as energetic as usual.

After a breakfast of poached eggs and toast, he checked on a craft site that gave out hobby models. He had been on this hobby for quite some time now, building models of sailing ships, star ships, air ships, and other vehicles if they caught his fancy. The way the site worked started simple, but could get complicated. One started with some basic models which cost nothing. When complete, the crafter sent a scan of it to the company, who judged it and assigned it points based on a variety of factors. The crafter would then be able to use those points to buy a newer model.

But when one got good enough, just having the points wasn't enough to get a new model. There were special offer models available if one logged onto the site at the right times. And in order to get a good reputation in the model crafting hobby, one had to acquire one of the rare models that were worth a lot of points if completed well. Ashe was looking for a good rare to crack the million point barrier. He currently had 860,375 points.

On checking the site at that time, there were six special offers: a triple-mast galleon, a set of six starfighters, a Roak king's ship, an exotic Tetragenes sports car, a rare horse-drawn trade wagon, and a rare Pangalactic scientific research starship.

Ashe quickly selected on the Pangalactic starship. It had been a highly anticipated model that had been announced a while ago, but hadn't yet shown. Although there wasn't any information on point-earning potential, being one of the first set to complete a model was known to be worth more than usual. It cost him half a million points, but he usually got the cost back and then some. In order to get it doubled, he'd have to craft this one with great care.

Happy with that find, he went up to his game room to log into the Eternal Sphere. The model wouldn't arrive for a while, so he could catch up on what Ashton was doing. And even better, he now had a quest that would net him a lot of prestige if things went well. Most players would be confident, but Ashe knew that with his challenge play, he couldn't let himself get too comfortable.

* * *

-Ashton, Mars library

There were a number of references to demons in this library. There were a number of other references to dragons too. When he cross-checked for demon dragons, around a dozen books came up. He knew quite a bit more now. But did he know the important stuff in defeating one?

"Are you finding what you want?" an older voice said.

He looked up to see one of the elders of Mars looking over the shelves next to him. "I think," he said.

"Are you looking for new crests? Your basic ones there are grass and…"

"Lightning," he said, showing the back of his right hand. "Thanks, but no… have you heard of the demon dragon in Salva Drift? I'm looking to defeat that monster."

"I have heard about that. They would welcome someone who could." His eyes drifted to the shelves as he thought. "Travelers say that it is of the elements of Fire and Ice. It has two heads, but uses one element for one head. As it is a demon, it would hold some of the powers of the demon world. Take some protection blessed against demons with you, and to fire and ice if you can afford it besides the holy charms. With your elements, the fire head would be the tougher of the two to take down. But such beasts are known to revive their other heads if you leave one alert for too long."

"So I should try to take out the fire head first," Ashton thought aloud. His other two elements who help take down the ice head faster.

"That would be wise. Good luck, young man."

Feeling more confident, he left the library. At the door, he nearly ran into an odd character in a blue hooded jacket. "Pardon me," he said, then went out to leave the village. He wondered why the guy had been dressed like that. It made him look like one of the gang of bandits that hung around Herlie. Although it could have been one of them, Ashton doubted it. They usually steered clear of the 'haunted' woods near Mars.

He then began the walk to his next goal, Cross Castle. Technically, it would have been a shorter walk to cut across the farms and wild countryside to Salva. Realistically, he knew that the farming lords could be a hassle to a lone traveler and the countryside was truly wild, with many monster nests. The road which led to the castle town, then to Salva was the faster route.

A couple of hours into the trip, he looked off the roads and spotted something in the open fields. "Blackberry bushes?" he said softly to himself. "I wonder if they have any ripe fruits." He left the road and went to go check them out.

Blackberries were highly valued by travelers like himself. They were good for a quick energy boost and they made one feel better after an exhausting battle. According to Bowman, blackberries had natural and potent healing properties, if you knew how to prepare them right. Finding fresh blackberries would be a large boon, especially considering that he was getting into. They would spoil or get squashed by the time he reached Salva, though.

On the other hand, he could harvest what he could reasonably take, then go into castle market and trade them for preserved berries, which would last a great deal longer than fresh. He could also make a small profit doing this when the picking would only take a few minutes. Ashton figured it was a good idea.

When he got close enough to inspect, he saw that the bushes were in various stages. Some had flowers, others had nubs, some had unripe fruit, but a fair amount had ripe and ready berries. Ashton pulled out a small bag from his traveler's pack and set about to picking some. One always had to watch out for bugs while doing this, but he found enough clean ones that he felt safe in eating a few himself.

He filled up his bag, so put it away. He then noticed a young man with blue hair coming into the field as well. Giving a friendly wave, Ashton called out, "Hey, there's plenty of berries around if you need them. Didn't I see you in Lasguss?"

"Yes, what of it?" he asked.

Still too cold, Ashton thought. "Nothing really, just good to see that you made it through safely. So, ah… careful of the snakes around here. I saw a venomous slint under the bushes over there."

The swordsman shrugged and began checking over the bushes. Ashton figured it was better to move on at that point.

* * *

-C.J., 4D

On flipping through various message boards, C.J. found a topic that bothered her. Titled 'Are they forcing life restarts?', the TC had noted that the doctors were pushing starting his life over more often as he got older. 'Before, it was just extreme circumstances that got that option to be mentioned, and even then it was discouraged,' he had written. 'Lately though, it seems like any report of trouble of any sort will get this brought up for me. One time the doctor was quite pushy about it. They make me think that I'm doing a foolish thing to continue living this life when we know that we're immortal. Heck, it's said that some lifetime workers have never restarted and no one brings up the issue with them. But I'm just an ordinary citizen and it looks like they want me to give up.'

It looked like other older citizens were also getting this restart option dumped on them every time. And that included Sphere restrictions. 'When they start doing that, you really have to fight to prove that you want to live,' someone had added. 'They don't say it directly, but the message is that you should complete all business here in 4D and there in the Eternal Sphere, then forget everything and enter a virtual death. And I don't have proof of this, but I swear that any time I get a restriction, my luck goes way up and my games almost complete themselves, or get to a point where it forces a genre shift. Especially with the marriage shifts. It seems like I get marriage proposals or confessions of true love right after I get a restriction placed, within days, sometimes just hours.'

That was how it was with Chris and Celine, C. J. realized. Shortly after Dr. Hall had put a restriction on her account, Chris had opened up to her. And he had managed to grow enough backbone in order to tell Rozelia straight out that he wasn't going to marry her. When she had first encountered him, he had been close to panicking because a restaurant owner was ranting at him about not paying for a cup of tea. He was the Prince, so she could assume that he'd never had to deal with that kind of obligation directly before. Was it entirely her interference, or was it tampering on behalf of the medical community who wanted her to start over?

From reading through, there were many stories like this. One poster seemed to have a valid theory. 'I think they really do want us to restart our lives after we've lived for a certain amount of time. Don't you remember being on the waiting list for a child? Everyone would love to have a baby to care for, but the government is insistent that we cannot outgrow 4D. Since our population can't grow, how do you get new children? You have to force the older members to die so you can reform them into infants! But then when those infants grow up, they will want children, but they will force their children of a previous lifetime to die in order to have those new children. We're kind of terrible when you think of it that way.

'Or, it could just be the government's way of controlling us, so that no one lives long enough to realize it.'

That was depressing to think about. But the whole point was to keep herself from being depressed, so that they didn't force a restart on her. C.J. made a post validating things like the sudden luck and declarations of love upon receiving a Sphere restriction. 'I don't feel ready to do this. Anyone know how to convince the doctors to stop being so pushy? I got one called on me just because I was getting bored between hobbies!'

After marking the topic so she could be notified of new posts, she logged back into the Eternal Sphere. It really did seem like the game was trying to make her wrap things up with Celine. Just to be sure, she checked on her other profile

_Planet-Tetragenes (home), Expel (destination)_

_Character- Opera Vectra_

_Style- adventure_

_Quest status- Searching for Ernest_

_Play as Opera?_

It had been a while. Might as well check on her, C.J. thought.

* * *

-Opera, approaching Expel

Space was vast… vastly boring, especially if one was traveling alone. But things were about to get exciting again, she thought. A new planet lay head of her, a blue-green jewel speck in the blackness of space.

Opera looked over the data file for this planet. It was laughable how scant the Federation's information on this planet was. Obviously, they were going to be careful with an underdeveloped planet with a sentient species. But some people weren't so careful. That included her boyfriend, Ernest.

The silly man… he had been her archeology professor when she was a graduate student. However, the university could never really control him. He would hear of some intriguing ruin on some outlying world and zip off to go see for himself. But he was tenured and too popular with the students when he was actually on campus. Most of the time, he kept in good contact and would be back in a week or two. This time, he had been gone three months. So what was the university staff to do?

Obviously, send an equally nutty professor to run out and fetch him.

As the daughter and heir of a massively successful business family, she had the money and means to go planet hopping on her own. As a professor of history and sociology of tribal cultures, she had plenty of experience with developing planets. Usually they weren't this advanced; she noted that although Expel didn't have a wide network, they did have local electrical power and water systems. She could probably get away with most of her things. Most. She picked up her pulse rifle and started modifying it. On worlds without guns, she could manage to pass it off as a strange club.

Yes, the UP3 laws were silly at times. However, there were just some things that one shouldn't do on a low technology planet. A gun could get one mistaken for a goddess which, while nice, was terribly detrimental to the young society and dangerous if the locals learned that the power was all in the 'club'.

There was something more worrisome, though. Opera could look out the viewing screen and see a massive pale green energy body hanging around this star system. Shaped like a swirl around an orb of light, it was a Class 9 energy body, which by all rights should be several parsecs away from here. That's where it had last been recorded, but here it was. It did absolutely nothing.

That really was what was most bizarre, maybe worrisome, about it. A galactic body of that force should usurp the sun's lead and make the system revolve around it. Or worse, fall into it the native star, leading to its spectacular demise. The energy body could get away from that kind of explosion with barely a ripple of disturbance in its flow. So what was it doing nothing here for?

Well, it wasn't like there was some intelligence behind its positioning. Opera finished up her gun modification. In a pinch, it could be used to fire some shots, but they wouldn't be near as powerful as the gun was unmodified. She did a quick brushing of her long hair and considered changing her clothes. She looked classy and sexy on her planet, but what about this one? When she landed, she should make some quick observations of locals to find something suitable. She could get the computer to make her a few outfits that wouldn't look too alien.

"Emergency landing preparations started," the computer abruptly announced.

Opera froze. "Landing? We aren't that close yet."

The console flickered, but all the numbers looked good. In fact, they looked just like they had the last time she had checked. "The energy field of the Class 9 body has caused a fatal chain of glitches. Remain seated and fasten safety harness as the life capsule is contained."

After grabbing her bag of travel supplies and her gun, she strapped herself into the pilot's chair. A circle of metal came up around the chair and encased her. These emergency capsules always made her feel claustrophobic. She soon felt it separate from the main ship; a window became unblocked so she could see around her. The ship itself didn't even have a trail of smoke or fire, just a glowing mass because the atmospheric protectors couldn't turn on in time. Falling like a dead hunk of metal, it crashed into a desert that lay past some mountains.

On the other hand, the escape capsule managed to remain functional. Using backwards thrust jets, it slowed its descent. This got it far separated from the main ship. She could see that it was heading for a thick forest that stood near a small village. Off in the distance, there was a grand white castle.

She quickly made the decision to get away from the small village quickly. It was out of the way, so fewer people would be passing through. Although Ernest would certainly be at some abandoned ruins, he had to go into a town to get supplies, and a bigger town meant it was more likely she'd encountered someone who'd seen him. She could also get locations of such ruins at a bigger town.

Then again… when she looked around, it seemed that she was falling deep within this thick forest. It could take her some time to get out.

"Just great, Ernest," Opera said quietly. "I come looking for my sweetheart and I wind up crashing out too."

_A/N: Yeah, I'm bringing in Opera early. Getting her and Ernest at their usual time requires a lot of backtracking_._ With as much rambling as this story does naturally, I wanted to avoid backtracking too much._


	8. Old Friends

**Chapter 8: Old Friends**

-Dias, Mars

When Dias entered the town, he immediately noticed that the citizens were tense and worried. There was some trouble here. It didn't concern him; he just wanted a room at the inn for the night and an open store. But even before he could look for those places, he had to get through a large group of carts and wagons, filled with harried looking people. In the end, even his indifference couldn't stop him from wondering what was going on.

"I'm telling you, Clik got destroyed with unnatural powers," the apparent leader told one of the Mars elders. "We all lost our homes."

"We'd love to help, but our village isn't safe at this time," the elder replied. "Please, you should move on for your own sakes. I mean this as kindly as I can."

How strange. But not really his concern. They might turn away a mass of refugees, but they wouldn't turn down a single traveler. Especially not one who could take care of himself. Dias headed for the store that was south of the entrance.

It was a homey little place, with all sorts of magical trinkets on sale. Some were quite worthless, but he'd found some useful charms and potions here before. Behind the counter, the little old woman who ran the shop sat in a rocking chair. She smiled warmly at him. "Hello, Master Flac. Passing through again?"

"As always." He put his bag on the counter and began taking things out. "I have some herbs and berries to exchange, as well as this talisman." He placed the Talisman necklace on the counter; while useful, he needed the money to get to Lacour.

"Right. Gertrude?"

"Yes Granny." A young woman in a small green dress and a white lacy cloak came up to check the items. Since he only needed supplies for himself, he managed to refill his stock and get some fol. It wasn't much, but money was money.

"Excuse me," a young man in a green cloak said, coming up to the counter. "You're Dias Flac, right? The famous swordsman?"

"Of course," he said, although he didn't like his own fame that much. It got him unnecessary attention, like now.

"Oh good… could you help us? We have some problems with a gang of bandits who've managed to get into Heraldry Forest."

"The ones that kidnapped the children?" the young woman behind the counter asked, pausing in counting the money.

"Bandits?" The village's problems weren't his, but Dias despised anyone who used violence against children. And if they meant, "You mean Zand's men?"

"That's who they say they are," the young man answered.

Zand. He was the king of bandits around Cross and Dias hated him more than any other creature on Expel. If he could just find a hint on that filthy fiend, he would track Zand down and kill him mercilessly, not matter what it cost him. This was just his swines, but it didn't matter. Dias very nearly gave his word right there that he would do something about this. His common sense kicked in just in time. "I'll consider it once I know more about this situation. Are you in charge of this effort against them?"

"No, but I'll introduce you to the elder who is."

He nodded. "All right."

"Here's your fol," the shop girl said.

"And good luck," the old woman added.

"I don't need luck." Dias followed the young man out of the shop.

They went to the other side of the main road, where the village leader lived next to the town library. There was quite a group already, the various experts of the village trying to decide what to do. The young man came up and bowed. "Elder, this is Dias Flac, the swordsman. I thought he could be helpful with the bandit problem."

A man there in a similar cloak (save for the large master of heraldry pin and an odd green stone on a leather string) looked skeptical. "What are you doing here?"

"Making my way to Lacour for the Tournament of Arms," he replied bluntly. "But I heard of your problem in the store and I couldn't ignore it when children are in danger."

"Well thank you very much," one man said. "I'm sure you'll be a big help."

"We don't know this man," the master complained.

"You haven't heard of young Master Flac? He's one of the best swordsmen in Cross."

"He may stay," the Elder decided for the rest. "We're still waiting on a few others."

The young man who'd brought him here left, but as he went out, about six people came in. Why were they wasting time? Dias closed his eyes from the foolishness for a bit until he heard something that was meaningful to him. "…Rena of Arlia…"

Opening his eyes back up, he looked over to see a Mars sorceress introducing a few people she'd brought in. It included a sixteen-year-old girl with short blue hair and a short red cape. She had grown considerably since he'd last seen her and was quite the pretty young lady. But then, it had been several years since he had last seen his other little sister. He hoped that the two young men who seemed to be with her were treating her well.

Rena happened to glance his way and recognize him. "Dias?"

He nodded. "Good to see you, Rena."

She gave him a bright smile, but held back on saying anything more. The village head had started the meeting. "Thank you all for coming so quickly, and a special thanks to you travelers who've agreed to help us."

"It's not like we could do nothing when we heard about it," the blond man with Rena said.

Taking off his red hat, the elder ran his hand through his hair. "Now, as for what happened… last evening, three children of this village went missing. Since they were friends and often spent time at each other's houses, the disappearance was not noticed until this morning when their parents tried to find out where their sons and daughter were. It still did not seem bad, as they may have thought it some prank or game to hide out for the night. But then we got a message from a bandit, who carried a lock of hair from each of the children.

"He told us that they were holding the children hostage inside Heraldry Forest. The bandits have demanded a ransom of 500,000 fol and the 'Book of Secret Seals' in exchange for the children. Also, they seem to be intent on staying put until their demands are met." He then looked to the heraldry master who had opposed to Dias' presence.

"The Heraldry Forest is dense with magic," he stated. "We use it to practice our spells and learn new crests. But there are strong protective seals on the forest itself and only certain people know how to undo the seals to enter safely. The forest also makes for a formidable natural fortress and that is just during the day. At night, it becomes a place of the fae. No sane person would enter the Heraldry Forest at night, and if they did, they would not be sane when they left. The fact that the kidnappers were able to get in and claim a base there means that these are no mere bandits. The fae can also change the paths of the forest, so giving directions is vague at best."

"Are the children all right?" Rena asked, fingering her pendant in a worried way.

"Yes, we know that much," the elder said. "We could not do nothing as well and as a result of a quiet search, we have found where the bandits are hiding the children. They're in a cabin deep in the forest. It's known as a safe haven if one cannot leave before nightfall, so the fae cannot touch them. Our scout was unable to get into the cabin, though he could see through the windows. There's a new lock on that door. Now we need to get into the forest, break into the cabin, and rescue the children before the bandits realize we're there."

"That doesn't sound too bad," one of the sorceresses said with confidence.

Had she not been listening? Dias felt annoyed. Having trained in the forest himself, he knew how dangerous it was. Especially to him, a pure swordsman who didn't use magic. He'd been told that magic users too had trouble, as if they didn't have full control over their spells, they would certainly lose control within that forest. And while the fae may have chosen cute and harmless appearances, they chose that. Anything of the fae could be dangerous if one underestimated it. Not to mention the bandits themselves.

"Excuse me," the blond man said, "but what's the Book of Secret Seals? If they can undo the Heraldry Forest seals, why would they want it?"

"It is an ancient text that we do not allow to leave the village," the elder said. "It deals with seals on worse things: demons of all sorts, the strongest fae, old curses. We have also used it to record where such seals are, so that none are tampered with in ignorance. If someone of evil intentions were to get a hold of the book, they would know where other evils are sealed and how to unseal them."

"It is grave enough when children are involved," a man in a blue long coat said. "But this makes it extremely vital that we succeed."

At the head of the table, the elder got up and retrieved a large piece of parchment. He spread the map of Heraldry Forest on the table. "There are many paths in the forest, and as mentioned earlier, they can change nightly." He pointed out a mark about two miles in. "And this is where the children are being held. Anyone who enters the forest needs to know the appropriate unsealing spells or carry a charm that will allow you to pass through them. The bandits also seem to be hiding in other similar cabins throughout the forest. I believe it would be best to have a couple groups beside the rescuers enter the forest to get the attention of the bandits. Who will go into the forest?"

Dias volunteered immediately. It required no thought. However, he did have reason to worry when Rena and her friends also volunteered. There was the blond man Claude (who was another swordsman), a local sorceress in Celine, and royal knight named Kevin (who was insistent on protecting the sorceress, although nothing about it suggested romantic reasons). A few other local magic users also volunteered. But he'd rather not have Rena in danger too.

Also, there was another problem. "Your plan seems fair," Dias said. "But I work best alone. Anyone else would be an encumbrance to the mission."

"There's a great number of these bandits, though," Celine replied. She looked annoyed at the suggestion that the rest of them would be an encumbrance.

"I know, but smaller groups would be able to move quicker and unnoticed. No more than three would be ideal. I would rather be on my own."

"That is a good point too," the elder said. "I'll hand out the key charms to whoever feels they need them. Since night is rapidly approaching, we'll set out early tomorrow."

Dias didn't stay around after that. He already had a key charm to the forest, as he had spent several months training his sword skills against fae spellcasters there. Not wanting the others to try attaching themselves to him, he went across town to the inn in order to check in.

Like it or not, it hadn't worked. He glanced back at the opening door as the innkeeper handed him a key. "I thought you'd do this, Rena."

She was smiling, though. "Why not, Dias? It's been so long since I've seen you last. You've changed."

"Not as much as you have; you were quite shorter then." He started up the stairs. "What are you traveling for?"

Rena came up behind him. "Claude and I are trying to get to Eluria to investigate the Sorcery Globe. But things happen… Clik got destroyed. We're helping out Celine for a bit because she's helped us, then we'll be trying the ports at Lacour. What about you?"

He shrugged. "The usual. I am heading towards Lacour too. The Tournament of Arms is coming up."

"How exciting. Maybe I'll get to see you there."

"Maybe." He paused at the top of the stairs and turned to her. "The Sorcery Globe is a dangerous thing. I haven't been to Eluria in the past four months, but I'm certain of that. Are you certain you want to be going there?"

"I'll be fine; Claude will be with me. He's good with a sword, like you. And I'm learning more spells. We'll be okay."

"Still, don't put yourself in unnecessary danger." Dias checked his key, then looked for Room 3. There were seven doors in this hall, and his was in the middle on the left side.

"May I come with you tomorrow?' Rena asked. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

"This is a serious situation," he reminded her, unlocking his room. It was a standard room, with three beds, a table, several chairs, and a folding screen. This inn didn't have any single bed rooms, which he usually took to save money.

"I know, but I want to."

When he looked back to her, Dias could see that she was worried, a bit sad. "Your friends didn't like that, did they?" he asked.

She fiddled with her pendant, a sure sign of nervousness. "Well I tried to explain it to them, but Celine seem angry at you for some reason. Have you crossed her before?"

He didn't really pay much attention to others. "I don't think so. She seemed too confident in her own powers, though. It won't be as easy as she thinks. You may want to go back to help them."

"But I want to go with you," Rena pleaded, clasping her hands together. "I won't slow you down, and my powers have been getting stronger. I'm sure the others will be okay…"

With anyone else, he would have strictly said no. They wouldn't have even gotten to his room, as he would have shut the door to their face. Dias knew he could take care of himself. But, Rena was different. She was like another member of his family, which made her the only one left. She and his actual sister Cecile had been so close as little girls that they had been like twin sisters. As such, he had been big brother to both of them, with all the teasing and protectiveness that the role carried. Such things had been destroyed a few years back, though.

Almost destroyed. Dias sighed. "I can tell that I'm not going to talk you out of this. Fine. I'd better go pick up some more supplies, though. Be sure to get to sleep early tonight; I intend to leave as early as possible."

She was cheered considerably by this. "Of course, thank you. I've heard people say that you've gotten really cold lately, but I can see you're still Dias. I mean, you're doing this even though it has no benefit to yourself. Cecile's happy for you too."

He nodded some. "Good to know. I'll be back shortly." He took his wallet and headed back to the store. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear her," he said to himself as he walked down the stairs. "Heaven is just too far away for that."

When he got back, Rena had moved the folding screen so that one bed was blocked off from the others. Good for her, he thought. There was still some time left as the sun's rays dwindled, so they talked. Rena mostly.

"There's been some trouble with Alan, though," she told him. "They had found a new vein of Energy Stone deep in Salva Drift, including this one stone that was bigger than both of my fists together." She showed this by putting one on top of the other. "It made him act very strangely. He took me from Arlia and tried to force me to marry him."

"Alan did that?" Dias said, some anger rising at that. Before, Alen had been his best friend. Even though he was from a different town, he was in Arlia often. They would play with the two girls in Shingo Forest, sometimes practicing with wooden swords against each other. Alan wasn't that good, but he would always laugh at his own mistakes.

"Well he wasn't fully himself at the time," Rena explained, showing no bitterness towards Alan. "That Energy Stone was demonic and really warped his thoughts. The cook said that he would hardly do anything for days, just looking at and polishing this stone. And Claude saved me before I got hurt so it all turned out well."

"I see." She seemed to be into this Claude person. He might want to check into the guy. Although he didn't want to tie himself down to anything or anyone, he still couldn't let go of Rena without knowing she was okay.

"And when the stone he had shattered and lost its glow, he returned to normal. It was a strange thing. And that wasn't the first time Claude saved me." She blushed a bit.

A small smile crept onto his face. "Really? Are you getting into trouble?"

"Not on purpose," she said, laughing. Once she quieted, she explained. "I was taking a walk in Shingo Forest one afternoon. The animals have been acting strangely the past few months, but they usually let you know they're there before you're really in trouble. But this one ape monster snuck up on me. It almost attacked me, but then he called out and defeated it soundly. That was actually the time I met Claude." She put her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle. "We all thought he was the Warrior at first."

"Is that so? He doesn't seem like it."

"Well he's gotten new clothes recently, but the ones he first had were like alien raiment. Not quite glowing and all the stuff we thought when we were kids, just this brown and black outfit with strange badges that have indecipherable writing. And he had some weapon that emitting a burst of brilliant light. He says it's broken now and it's not exactly a sword of light. Oh, and he speaks so strangely too."

Speaks strangely? That wasn't something he recalled from the Warrior legends. "He sounded all right to me."

"That's because you weren't looking at him," Rena said. "You know how some people can read lips and find out what people are saying? You can't do that with Claude. His words are perfectly understandable, but it doesn't look like he's saying the words right. It's kind of bothersome at first, but you get used to it."

"So is he the Warrior?"

"He says he's not and he didn't understand it at all when we first spoke about it. But sometimes I still wonder. He says he's a traveler, but he doesn't know anything about the Cross continent, like Clik or Herlie. Or Lacour, it seems like, and he didn't know what the Sorcery Globe was or what it was doing to everyone."

Dias considered that. "Then how did he get into Shingo Forest? There are no major ports on the southern coastline."

"I don't know. He won't say. And he didn't seem to be traveling to any particular place."

"Maybe he's lying."

"I doubt that," she said, quick to Claude's defense. "I mean, who would pretend to be that ignorant? Besides, he's a good person and you'd think he was perfectly normal now, aside from his speech and having to explain just about everything to him." She paused, then said, "Sorry about going on like that. I think he does know something, but isn't saying it for some reason. I wish he would, though."

"I hope it's nothing dangerous." He glanced out the window. There was only light from magic torches outside. "We'd better turn in for the night. We'll need to be well rested for tomorrow."

"Right. Good night Dias." She got up and went behind the screen.

"Good night Rena." He went to one of the other beds and was soon asleep.

* * *

-C.J., 4D

The sewing sampler could get frustrating. She wouldn't always know a mistake right off; it was usually further along that she noticed that a letter looked off or a stitch was out of place. At that point, she'd have to undo a lot of stitches just to fix that one. But when she got something right, it felt good. It might take some time, but she felt that this would look quite pretty when she got finished.

After fixing the N and getting up to R, she put the piece aside to check into the Eternal Sphere. Opera was struggling through the Shingo Forest. She had adequate wilderness experience, but she was stuck with the outfit she had crashed in, a white blouse, a slim red skirt with a long slit in the side, and heels. At least they were relatively reasonable heels, she considered. C.J. had designed Opera to be conscious of her looks and strive to always look her best, even under bad situations like this.

Just to see, she checked on Celine's progress. She should be headed towards Salva now, after the wedding rings. However, her profile listed a new quest. 'Rescue the kidnapped children in Heraldry Forest with Claude and Kevin.'

"Looks like I picked a fine day to leave Celine on auto," she said sarcastically. Still, the stalling was okay in her mind. It gave her longer to keep the character going. But she really didn't want it to break her relationship with Chris. That had taken so much time and effort to set up.

This kind of quest was one a player did not want to leave on auto, though. Opera could manage in the forest she was in just fine on auto. But a rescue quest like that earned prestige points if the player was actively working on it. Although she no longer cared about having a high prestige rating, it was the kind of thing she definitely didn't want to get too low. It might even affect her restrictions.

C.J. logged in as Celine.

* * *

-Dano, 4D

Discussion Topic: How many characters do you play?

Topic Reply 165, by Dano: I only play one, although I'm cleared for up to six. I don't see the point in having that many games running at once.

Topic Reply 168, by Trent: Why would some of you guys only play as one character? That's boring. Just leave it on auto to grind, then play another that's actually doing something interesting. I wish I had up to six; I keep dropping one character or another because I get new ideas all the time.

Topic Reply 170, by Dano: Trent, you have no focus. You can master a character's abilities by focusing on that one. If you play multiple games at once, you run the risk of winding up with a bunch of mediocre characters because of dumb things they decided when on auto. Characters on the Milky Way server especially tend to get side-tracked if you let them run auto too long.

Topic Reply 171, by Trent: That's why I always pick the reliable or focused character trait, so they don't do stupid stuff like that. You're being too narrow-minded about this.

Topic Reply 172, by Lass: Why so serious, guys :P? It's just a game, get over yourselves. Anyhow, I play two characters, one to vent with and one to have silly fun with.

Topic Reply 173, by Trent: Well you're just being a fool, Lass. I can show off how awesome I am with my four characters. That's how I got to be the best player on my planets, although those dumb prestige raters keep skipping me over.

Topic Reply 174, by Dano: No need to insult anyone. We all play differently. Besides, the prestige charts aren't watched by 'raters', they're run by numbers, how well you play, and how people in the community view you.

Topic Reply 176, by Trent: There are raters! It's a conspiracy to control who gets power in the Eternal Sphere. They downplay the really good players and inflate the popular ones.

Topic Reply 178, by Jan: You shouldn't be arguing with Dano, Trent. He has way more prestige than you, by being a real good player and very informed poster.

Topic Reply 179, by Trent: I doubt it. He's probably got some friend in the company and sucks up to them. Nobody around here recognizes true genius!

Dano had to force himself to keep from replying. Trent was just being a troll, whining about how he couldn't get recognized for probably mediocre play. On the other hand, Dano had worked hard to get his prestige rating where it was. And it was serious business. Due to the way the world of 4D ran, the best way to earn recognition, respect, and power outside of getting a permanent job early on was to have a high prestige rating on the Eternal Sphere.

Everyone was on the Eternal Sphere. All other game companies, immersion or not, had folded centuries ago. However, it was nigh impossible to actually get hired by the Sphere Company. They kept their workers close, including keeping those who had restarted in the company building, Sphere 211. All other permanent jobs, the government, the medical network, the few odds and ends jobs that weren't fully taken by robots, were assigned when the job holder was still in primary level school. If one did not get that kind of job, the best shot at power of any kind was within the Eternal Sphere.

Or by becoming a hacker, Dano considered. But hackers were terrible people, the worst criminals that 4D produced (and the worst that it could produce). It worked by cheating at everything. That made things horribly unfair. Thankfully, there were few hackers these days. He had heard a news story just this morning about a large bust of two dozen hackers who had been audacious enough to put a wooden pirate ship in space and have a drinking party on board. What idiots.

To keep his mind of the troll Trent, Dano decided to log in. It was time for Dias and Rena to head into the forest.

* * *

-Dias, Mars

The predawn light coming in the window was strengthening. Dias blew out the candle he had lit a short while ago. "Are you up, Rena?"

"I am," she said, a touch of grogginess still there. "It's so early."

"I want to get in there before the bandits suspect anyone is coming. Surprise is key." He put his notebook and pencil away in his bag.

Adjusting her bag, Rena came out from behind the screened area. "What were you doing with the candle?"

He considered not saying anything, but felt she could keep a secret. "Writing poetry."

She smiled to that. "Really? You still keep with that too?"

"Mostly I just copy down ones I like to read through later on, but a few are my own." He looked right into her eyes. "But don't go telling anyone that, all right?"

Giggling at his insistence, she nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want. I think it's a wonderful hobby to keep."

They left the inn quietly. It was early enough that the innkeeper wasn't up. Since he had left a few of his more valuable things in his room, to keep his load light, Dias kept the key in his coat pocket. There was no one outside either, so the village was quiet, save for the cool wind blowing through the trees.

"We won't go in just yet," Dias said quietly. "We'll wait until the sun shows itself. Then the fae will have less power and we can move ahead."

Rena just nodded. She was fiddling with her pendant again.

"If you're nervous, you can still stay behind," he told her. "Once we enter Heraldry Forest, we can't hesitate. Both to catch the bandits by surprise and to make sure the forest doesn't catch us by surprise."

"I'm still going," Rena replied.

"Just checking. Also, if we run into a child in the forest, make sure to check its eyes first and foremost."

"Its eyes?" she asked, giving him a puzzled look.

"We're looking for children with human eyes. Some fae can shift their bodies, appearing like helpless children or elderly folks. But they cannot shift their eyes, which can glow or have no color at all. If it doesn't have human eyes, don't trust it."

"Ah, okay."

After a minute, a true sunray shot across the village and the sun appeared on the horizon. Dias and Rena entered the forest. The light quickly dimmed back to predawn levels. It would be some time before the sun could reach the forest floor, but they were safe enough now. All around, lush plants grew, leaving all sorts of loose branches and brambles all over the ground. The trees towered overhead, turned the sky emerald with flecks of pale blue. Birds were singing their songs and animals were scurrying in the underbrush. However, this forest was dark and had a powerful soul. Dias could feel it. It was very different than Shingo's peaceful and calm soul.

There was a footpath, marked by many stones. It branched off to the east and west. However, the east branch quickly ended in a group of thorn bushes. The west branch turned and obscured its way.

"When I first came in here, I was explicitly told to stay on the footpaths," Dias said quietly. "For this forest, we must do so. Many plants here have poison and thorns, while even the smallest animals can use heraldry. Add in the strong fae populations and straying from the path is a very bad idea."

"Okay, but how do we find out way to the cabin? If there's lots of forks, we could lose track."

"That's simple to solve and will help any who follow us. Let's go."

"If you say so." She followed him.

After several twists and turns, the path gave them three ways to choose: east, north, and west. There wasn't an obvious dead end to any of the choices. Dias knelt down and picked up a few small rocks. He then piled them on the eastern path. "This is a cairn. It's well-known to travelers the directions it gives." He made a second cairn on the path back to town, but arranged the rocks differently, to indicate the path back to Mars.

"I see."

"Let's keep quiet from here on out." They continued by following the eastern path.

* * *

-Celine, Mars

As Celine prepared herself for the day ahead, she found herself reviewing the events of yesterday. They had left the ruins of Clik with a number of other carts and wagons. Many survivors of the tragedy came with them, although they could only fit a child named Ketil and the maid watching after him on their cart with them. They had stopped off on meeting a very nice stagecoach that was taking Ketil's mother to a meeting in Cross; they then left the child and maid with her.

On reaching Mars, they tried to stop, but one of the elders refused to let them stay. Since he said it was a problem the village had, she talked the others into stopping to find out what. It turned out that three children of Mars had been kidnapped and were being held for ransom. Thankfully, the rest of her group agreed to help out.

Another who was helping was a young man named Dias Flac. Celine had heard of him, supposedly the best swordsman in Cross. However, he had been so rude and cold to everyone. He dismissed any help as the rest would be 'encumbrances'. Celine had been quietly furious about this, not liking this man's vain attitude. At least they were going in smaller groups, so she didn't have to deal with him.

Then another problem arose. Apparently Dias was from Arlia, just like Rena. Rena had been quite happy to see him, although Celine couldn't imagine who would like that jerk. She had wanted to go with him on the rescue mission, maybe to convince him to travel with her and Claude to the Sorcery Globe. However, they had already planned to stick around for the wedding, since they were delayed anyhow. That would mean that Celine would have to put up with Dias after today and she didn't like the sound of that. Claude didn't seem too pleased with it either and there had been a bit of an argument.

Frowning, she considered that maybe she'd gone too far with that. She hadn't been thinking entirely clearly after being insulted by Dias' rudeness. She didn't care if he was the best swordsman in the world. One couldn't talk about others in that manner, especially when they were right there. After the argument, Rena had been upset by that and had run off to meet with Dias.

That wasn't important right now. The children were. Personal issues aside, they had to do something about that.

She met up with Claude and Kevin. Her parents Eglas and Labe walked with them to the entrance of the forest. "We'll take care of the security of the village," Eglas told them. "You focus on trying to reach the northwestern cabin and rescuing the children."

"We will," Celine said.

"You can count on us," Kevin added.

Claude didn't say anything, just nodded.

They entered the Heraldry Forest. The light dimmed considerably, but strong shafts of light were starting to reach the ground. "Keep on the paths," Celine told the other two. "And be cautious of anything you see. If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't right."

"Someone's been leaving trail markers," Kevin pointed out, noting a pair of cairns at a four-way crossing.

"I wonder if Dias and Rena started earlier," Celine said. She looked back to Claude, who still seemed distracted. "Does it bother you, the two of them?"

"Huh? Oh, some, I guess. She was the first one I met after…" he trailed off, rethinking telling that detail.

"I see."

"Hold it right there!" A group of bandits in purple hooded jackets (which were immensely popular among bandits, for some reason) came from the northern path. "Do you have the ransom?"

"No," Celine told him bluntly. "But you'll be the ones to pay."

"What? Stop wasting our time! Get them!"

Claude quickly had his sword, with Kevin brought out his spear and shield. As the latter of the pair was moving in to a position to guard her, Celine trace a star rune in the air. A burst of light shot up above her, then turned into stars which shot straight for all of the bandits in the crossing. Including one that had been in the bushes, ready to retreat. Claude spotted that one and quickly put an end to that by slashing the hiding bandit's back. After another Starlight spell, the two fighters were able to finish off the rest of the group.

"Should we go the way they came?" Claude asked.

"That seems reasonable," Kevin said.

"I'll mark the way," Celine offered, since the two guys were both wearing metal armor. She formed a cairn to indicate that they had gone this way. The group then continued into the forest.

* * *

_Another thing the game doesn't explain well: if the bandits can get into the sealed Heraldry Forest, what do they need the Book of Secret Seals for? Sure, I know the explanation they give, but still..._


	9. Bandits in the Forest

**Chapter 9: Bandits in the Forest**

-Dias, Heraldry Forest

The light had grown strong enough to send bright shafts through the trees. Rena was using one to look at a cut Dias had. "Looks fine," she said, then cast her healing spell to help it clear up faster.

"Thanks." Then a crunch of leaves caught his ears. It sounded sloppy, but too light to be an adult walking up to them. Dias turned and saw a young girl coming up to them. From her size, she could have been five or six years old. He moved slower up to her, as it could be a fae.

But when they got close enough, she looked up at them. She had human eyes, frightened and worried, with some relief starting to show. "Mister, miss, will you help me?"

"Yes, of course," Rena said. She knelt down and starting her healing spells; the girl had some cuts and scrapes on her legs. "What happened to you?"

"One of the Heraldry Masters said he'd take me and the boys in the woods, but then he made us walk out all this way and locked us in the cabin over there. I got out the window, but I hurt myself." She sniffled.

Being the kindly person she was, Rena wiped the girl's tears away. "It's okay, we've come to bring you and the boys back home. I'm Rena, and this is Dias. What's your name?"

"Cecile," she said, still sniffling.

Cecile? That got to him for a second. But no… this girl was much younger; his sister would be the same age as Rena. And this Cecile had teal green hair, wearing a pink hooded cloak popular in Mars. His Cecile was dead.

"Would you show us where the cabin is, Cecile?" Dias asked. "We need to rescue the boys as well."

She rubbed her nose. "O-okay. It's back this way." She turned back on the path, taking Rena's hand.

Rena glanced back at him. From the look on her face, she was also surprised at the girl's name. "She's different, but we still have to help her," he told her, barely using his voice. He didn't want Cecile to hear that.

Nodding, Rena kept hold of the girl's hand as they walked on. "Did you say one of the Heraldry masters brought you out here?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," Cecile replied. "Mr. Vermillion did. He's… well, he was a nice guy, but then he left on a trip. Then when he came back, he had this pretty glowing stone with him. He was acting a little funny too, but I didn't think he'd become a meanie."

"A glowing stone?" Rena seemed thoughtful, then worried. "Energy Stones like the one Alen had glow green."

"Yeah, that was it. A pretty light green."

Dias reviewed the past day in his mind. "There was one of the Heraldry Masters at the meeting who was wearing a green stone. I saw it at the start, but he must have shifted it under his cloak. He would be back at the village…" which meant that this whole kidnapping plot was a ruse for something else. They would have brought up the Book of Secret Seals to force the Mars villagers into action, in the wrong place.

"Dias?" Rena asked. She must have realized the same.

"Let's make sure we have the children safe," he said firmly.

Not long after that, they came across a log cabin. But on the porch, there was a golem. Made of clay, its rough skin was a sickly-looking blue and its face was devoid of emotions. It wore binding chains on his wrists and ankles. And even though it wasn't hunched over by much, its arms were so long that the hands touched the ground.

It didn't take long for Dias to step out in front of the girls. And it shrieked in fury when it saw Cecile, who shrieked back in fear. "You were not to leave, little girl," the golem said in a monotone voice. "The Boss said you were to stay here."

"You leave her be," Dias said, putting a dangerous tone to his voice. "I'm challenging you now. You will fall, follower of Zand."

The golem snorted. "Zand? Phhfft, we ditched him last month. The new Boss is stronger; Vermillion will blast you into ash. That is, if you survive me." It leapt off the porch, ready to fight.

But Dias was ready. Channeling the power of chaos into his blade, he drew it out of its sheath and slashed at the air in such a way that the golem collided with the katana when both were at full momentum. That managed to take off the golem's right arm and put a good deep slice across its chest. Being a clay thing, the golem did not bleed and was not defeated. Dias was able to reverse the blow and take off its other arm as he went to replace his sword in its sheath. Thus, a step back was all he needed to keep out of range of any attacks from it.

Cecile screamed behind him.

…

Dias and his father were getting the better of the two bandits who had decided to interrupt their family picnic when Cecile screamed behind them.

Scared for her, the sixteen-year-old stepped back and turned to see that another three bandits had come in, including one who wore a crimson red cloak edged with yellow. But that moment of distraction was all the bandit he was fighting needed to slash him in the side, then kick him onto the ground so hard that he found himself unable to get back up again. He heard his father call his name, but that distraction was enough to get him killed.

And it just got worse from there.

…

Dias cursed under his breath for allowing himself to get distracted by a flashback at that moment. Since the golem's arms were missing, he had an easier time telling where its control stone was. He slashed his sword out again, putting another slice across its chest, then pierced through just below its neck. As he felt the control stone break, he pulled his sword back out, stepped aside just in case, then checked on Rena and Cecile.

Fortunately, Rena had cast a light-based spell to dazzle the three thieves who had tried to jump her and the little girl. One had even been knocked unconscious. She followed up by dropping a magic anvil on top of another, defeating him. Running over there, Dias cut down the third before he could attack any of them.

"Is everyone okay?" Rena asked, although the question seemed most directed at Cecile.

"That was scary," the girl said, hanging close to Rena. But then she smiled at them shyly. "But you both are so strong."

Ignoring that for now, Dias turned back to the golem. If this monster had been left to guard the children and it had once belonged to Zand… yes, the key to the cabin was attached to one of his control bands. Zand himself, the bandit of the crimson cloak, may have been a bastard genius, but his followers generally weren't too bright. All the while, Dias kept observing the forest around them. It didn't seem like any more bandits or monsters were here for now. Were they back at the village? And what about the parents of these children? Were they in trouble, or worse, dead?

For their sake, Dias hoped not. He took the key and went over to unlock the cabin. He knocked before opening the door. "Who's in there?" He kept his hand on his katana's handle.

There was nothing to be concerned about, though. The one-room cabin didn't even have a fire going. Although there had been this guard and locked door, there looked to be no other security. The two boys, too big to fit through the one opened window, were not tied up, nor enchanted. No one had been left in the room with them. To their credit, the boys had picked up a pair of fire pokers in their own defense. "Are you with the bandits?" one called out. He was trying to be brave, but the poker shivered in his hands.

"No, they killed the bandits!" Cecile called out cheerily.

"Whoa, really?" The boys came out and saw the dead golem and bandits. "Awesome!"

Now for the difficult part of this mission, Dias thought. He had been taught how to use a sword by his father. However, the style they used had weaknesses, like any other. His father had been firm that he know and recognize those weaknesses. One was that if he didn't cut down his foe in one blow, he would leave himself more open than others to counterattacks. Another more troublesome one that he had a hard time defending others, especially if attacked by a group. Dias could protect himself in these woods. But Rena and three small children too? It was going to be a challenge.

"We must be quiet," Dias told the children. "There is still danger in these woods. We need to get back to Mars quickly."

"What about…?" Rena started.

"Let's just get there first," Dias stated. If the village was being attacked, they could keep to the woods until there was an opening.

He hoped there wouldn't be a problem, though. This forest was beginning to remind him a little too much of Shingo Forest. Because of that, Dias wanted to leave as soon as he could.

* * *

-Celine, Heraldry Forest

It had been a rough morning. Celine, Claude, and Kevin had been making good progress in getting northeast, but they kept being attacked by groups of bandits. None of them were tough, but the number of battles was wearing them down. However, they moved on, even Kevin in his full suit of armor. Of course, he was used to this kind of ordeal in being a castle knight.

"Seems like these bandits are in Zand's gang," Kevin noted after one battle. "They've got the right gear and outfits for it. He's getting quite bold to come into this place."

"I think I see a cabin ahead," Claude said, peering through the trees. "Some kind of structure."

"Let's go check it out," Celine said, but then footsteps behind their group caught their attention.

A green-cloaked Heraldry Master came up the path. "Oh, there you are," he said. "How're you holding up, Celine?"

"Just fine," she brushed off, ignoring a few patched cuts and bruises she had gotten today. "How's your search coming along, Vermillion?"

"Just fine."

"So did you find the children?" she asked. She'd known this wizard for a good many years; he was a friend of her father's.

"No one's found them yet, but don't worry. They'll be perfectly fine."

Kevin and Claude exchanged looks. It seemed they didn't trust him. Celine herself was worried. Although she wasn't sure, something didn't seem right about him. "We still have to find them before the bandits get impatient and decide to harm them."

"They're in no danger of that," he repeated. Then a disturbing look came to his eyes. "The one who got hurt was your father."

"My father?" Celine cried out. But her father was one of the more powerful wizards in Mars! He was certain to become an elder soon, even though he was still young for that. Although she had disagreed with her parents many times before, she didn't want to wish either of them harm.

Clutching a strange green stone, Vermillon smiled. "I never knew why Eglas was the one who was always recognized. I was always better than him. But he got everything: Labe, the praise of the elders, prestige, money, everything. I did get something he didn't have on my trip into Eluria, though. I met a great wizard named Vesper who gave me the secrets of his power. And thus I will take over this foolish village." He unhooked the clasp of his cloak, then tossed it aside.

The three there tried their best not to, but cringed on seeing Vermillion's new form. His face looked fairly normal, but otherwise… his skin was all bright red, rough as if covered by layers of scars. On his hands, his nails had grown into claws. His body was an unsettling mixture of bulky muscles and starved thinness. And his hair was white and wild, as if he had shot himself one too many times with a Thunderbolt spell.

Vermillion gave a bestial grin. "And now I must get rid of the last part of Eglas' legacy… you!"

"Not a chance!" Claude said as he moved in to attack.

Kevin moved to the side to stand guard in front of Celine. He brought up a shield power to keep them safe. "By my duty, and my respect for her, I will not allow you to harm Celine," he stated.

On normal terms, Celine would have been asking the two to stand down so she could have a proper duel with Vermillion. However, now that he wasn't human, she appreciated the help. She remembered that he was a grass and earth based wizard and prepared Energy Arrow to strike him.

Vermillion managed to block Claude's sword with his fist. Claude tried to break out of that hold, but had to back off as the former human lashed out with his other arm. Trying out a skill Kevin had taught him, he attempted to strike with star-based energy once Celine's spell struck. He didn't seem too thrilled with the result and went back to standard strikes and slashes.

Although he'd started the fight saying he would take down Celine, a wild spirit seemed to take over Vermillion's mind. He got furious at Claude's attacks and began trying to strike back. This man knew how to make the very ground tremble; why in the world was he not using that against them? Vermillion was sticking mostly to physical strikes and spells, like making sure he could fight fist to sword on equal terms. Maybe he'd spent his magic fighting Eglas and the others of Mars. Or maybe he had a nasty trick waiting for them.

"Kevin!" Claude called, blocking Vermillion's fist. "How accurately can you throw that spear?"

"The knights have very high standards for that," he replied.

"Good, then I want you to hit this stone…" he sidestepped and thrust his sword upward to catch the chain holding the glowing Energy Stone. It slipped and fell to the ground. "Now!"

Having already brought up his weapon, Kevin lunged forward to add extra strength to his throw. It wasn't that far away, so when the spear struck the stone, it shattered instantly. Strangely enough, it almost seemed to pop as the glow ceased.

"NOOO!" Vermillion called, dropping to the ground. "I connected my heart to…" he stopped and collapsed, dead.

"Oh drat," Claude said, stepping back to catch his breath. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to kill him."

"If he connected his heart to that Energy Stone, then he was as good as dead already," Celine said, coming over when Kevin dropped his shield. "It turns people into demons if they're not careful."

"Still…" he winced and looked down at his arm. A bruise was starting to show from where Vermillion had punched him. It was strangely larger than a normal fistfight bruise.

"Claude!" Rena's voice came from down the path. "Celine, Kevin, there you are." She appeared with Dias and three small children. On seeing Claude's bruise, she came right over and healed him. "What happened?"

"That's the true form of Vermillion," Kevin said, pointing to the fallen corpse. "One of the Heraldry Masters that was at the meeting yesterday."

"Oh gross," one of the boys said, in an impressed voice. "I didn't know magic could do that to you."

"Only bad magic, darling," Celine said, but her eyes were drawn back to Mars somewhere behind the trees. "If you have the children, we need to get back quickly. My father…"

"He didn't say Eglas was killed," Claude said, still holding onto his arm. "He could be all right after being healed."

Bending down, Dias picked up the master's cloak. "Let's get going, then. When the cowards see this, they should stand down. So you three defeated their boss."

"Right," Kevin said. "Claude did much of the fighting, though."

"You both helped immensely."

The blue-haired swordsman nodded. "I suppose what Rena said was true then. You're not as much trouble as you seem. Come on."

"Is the village gonna be okay?" the little girl asked.

"We'll see."

* * *

-Dias, Heraldry Forest

Still, they had a long trek back to Mars, this time with a larger group. Dias noted sounds that indicated bandits watching them. But they weren't attack. He kept the green cloak visible, as a sign for them to stay away.

Rena's attention was pretty much on Claude right now, as they tied up a sling for his right arm while walking. "It's not quite broken, but it's going to be frail for a couple of days. You should take it easy until it strengthens back up, or it will break."

"All right then."

She then went off to attend to the others. Celine was walking ahead of everyone. With a good reason, she was somewhat distracted. Her father had been attacked back in Mars, or so Vermillion had claimed. Dias figured that was just another reason to keep alert. One good thing would come out of it; if any bandits did decide to make trouble, they'd have to face down one angry sorceress. From experience, he knew that provoking magic users in a battle situation was generally a stupid idea. Fighters would get sloppy, but magicians? Their spells would be fueled by their anger.

"Dias?" Little Cecile came up to him and tried to take his hand. "Can I tell you something?"

Part of him was annoyed by this. But then… he let her take his hand. "Sure, what is it?"

"I'm gonna be a great fortune teller someday. And you know what my fortune telling powers tell me now?" She giggled, but didn't wait for a response. "They say that you like my name."

That. He didn't want to smile, but gave her a small one anyway. "It could be true. I had a little sister with the same name."

"That's neat. So what's she like?"

Rena glanced at him; that partly kept him from just shutting up about the issue. "She liked to play in the woods and help our mom bake things."

"Yeah, and you liked to tease us about everything," Rena said with a grin.

"I was big brother to both of you, what do you expect?" Dias countered.

"Can I meet her?" Cecile asked.

"She died a few years ago," Dias said.

"Oh, sorry." She thought about it. "Well can I call you big brother instead?"

That's why you don't go hanging around people too much, he scolded himself. They get attached to you and you get attached to them. It still didn't stop him from saying, "If you want."

The teal-haired girl grinned. "Good! I never had a big brother before, just these two boys." She then decided to give him a hug about the waist.

"I can't stay long," he told her, but that didn't seem to faze Cecile at all.

Back at the village, the battle seemed to be over. the villagers were assessing damage and trying to help those who were injured. Since she had a rare healing ability, Rena was soon in the thick of it, asking to see Eglas. Celine followed her. Claude and Kevin helped out in making sure all the enemies were taken care of and that the village's security was good. As for himself, Dias made certain that he saw the children to their parents.

Fortunately, those six adults didn't seem to be hurt. They had been waiting by the entrance to the forest and their children quickly ran over. The families thanked the five of them and offered to use the ransom money as a reward. Dias turned it down and headed back to his room at the inn. On getting his things back and turning in the key, he was ready to leave.

Don't get attached to them, he thought. Death and violence could take anyone away without warning. And he didn't want to risk his heart to that. Dias left Mars for Herlie.

* * *

-C.J., 4D

C.J. was making sure that her Eternal Sphere profiles were up-to-date and organized. She wanted proof that she was interested in this in order to lift the restrictions before Celine's wedding. Unfortunately, there was precious little time for that. Celine had to go to Salva still, to buy the wedding rings. Once she got back to Cross, it would be a busy week or so for her until the wedding. On her end, C.J. would be busy arguing with the medical network.

As for Opera, it seemed that she had made it out of Shingo Forest and into Arlia. She had gotten some injuries, so she was staying the night at the house of Westa Lanford. C.J. made a quick note to make certain to review any conversations there when she checked back in to that account. After Arlia, Opera planned on heading north to Salva, then elsewhere to look for Ernest.

So, her characters were going to be in the same general area tomorrow. And they were supposed to be on different planets too. An odd incident. Well at least she could fully watch Celine's wedding, if she could convince Opera to hang around.

She checked into on-going chat rooms and happened upon Dias' player. She looked into that conversation.

Dano: I recognized your username, of course.

(C.J. has entered the chat room)

Cece: hehe. I'm glad to see Dano again!

Cece: Oh hi C.J.!

C.J.: Hi. I was playing as Celine in Heraldry Forest today.

Cece: Ah cool! I was playing Cecile, and Dano was Dias.

Dano: C.J., is it? I hear you're a great player despite your prestige rankings.

C.J.: Thanks darling, but I don't really pay all that much attention to that anymore. I just have fun.

Cece: hehe, me too!

C.J.: You've been really great yourself, Dano. I've read some of your help topics and they're nicely done.

Dano: I just don't like idiots running about in the game, that's all.

Dano: So what was the deal with reusing the name Cecile, Cece?

Cece: oh, that's one of my stock names for a cute little girl.

Cece: I always play little kids. It's so much fun! So is Dias gonna hang around Cecile again? Teehee.

Dano: I'm afraid not. Dias changed and I can't influence him that much when immersed.

Cece: Awwww. Cecile will be disappointed.

Dano: Well you're still one of the best players for a kid character, I'll give you that.

Cece: Thanks. Oh, gotta go, bye!

(Cece left the chat room)

C.J.: Hey, I'm sorry if Celine was rude to you. I had her on auto during the discussion on the kidnapping.

Dano: Eh, Dias has encountered worse. And he's a bit worse too.

C.J.: I see.

Dano: You're one of the older players, right? Do you ever use the amnesia option when bad things happen in the Eternal Sphere?

C.J.: No I don't. I think it's much worse to deal with the problem if you choose amnesia. The ES character doesn't have a choice in forgetting the bad incident, so you actually wind up yo-yo-ing between the peaceful 4D and the mourning ES.

Dano: What about a character death? Do you use amnesia then?

C.J.: No. I had one friend who did and she kept trying to log back into that profile.

C.J.: Plus, I think it makes you a better person if you don't forget.

Dano: A better person?

C.J.: Right. There's no suffering in 4D and everyone says that it's perfect that way. But look at how the ES characters grow and mature. They often have to suffer to become better. Since there's no suffering in 4D, there's only what you suffer in ES. So to be a better person, you have to remember it.

Dano: That sounds about right.

Dano: Cece chose to forget about when her character Cecile died, and I have a hard time speaking to her because I didn't forget Dias' memory of that.

Dano: When Cecile was Dias' sister, I mean.

C.J.: I see.

C.J.: I hope you don't mind me saying this, but she did seem immature.

Dano: You have no idea. Would you mind if I friend you?

C.J.: Nah, that's fine. Even if Celine won't run into Dias again. Which she won't, at least not under my control.

(Dano has sent a friend request? Accept?)

Dano: Something wrong?

(C.J. has accepted Dano's friend request)

C.J.: I've got this Sphere restriction that keeps me from making new profiles or changing my current ones too much. And Celine's getting married shortly. (kinda upset, kinda annoyed)

Dano: Ouch, that's harsh.

C.J.: Yeah, so if I can leave my characters on auto, I do that while trying to get those restrictions lifted.

(Jeb has entered the chat room)

Jeb: Hey C.J., how'd you get a restriction on you? You're the most rule-abiding player I know of.

C.J.: Hey Jeb! Well it's really strange. I dropped my solar sailing hobby because of disinterest and I got bored trying to find a new hobby. Then a doctor comes in on me and drops this change restriction on my ES account apparently for no reason but my boredom (mad now)

Dano: They shouldn't be able to do that.

C.J.: I know! But I hear a lot of the older people of 4D are getting this kind of hassle too. All well. I'm trying not to rant too much and give them reasons to not lift those restrictions. I've got a new hobby now, so hopefully I can get something worked out before the wedding event.

Dano: I might look into that. Well good meeting you.

C.J.: You too Dano.

(Dano has left the chat room)

Jeb: So the older folks are getting nudges to restart, huh? (a bit worried)

C.J.: Oh, you should be fine for a good while. I've had my grandkids grow up, while you've just started a family. So how is Penny?

Jeb: Doing nicely in schools. She's got a knack for mechanics, so we're hoping she gets a permanent job in that. Hoping. She's sixteen now, so there's not much time for that left.

C.J.: I hope she's lucky too. A job would be nice, but I've got some time before that option comes up for me again. If it ever does.

Jeb: Right, I know how that is. Still, I've been considering this new option. Have you heard of the robotic children?

C.J.: No, can't say that I have.

Jeb: Well every family is limited on how many children they can have. Me and Nancy are on a waiting list for a second. But Central Electronica can get you a robotic child faster.

C.J.: I'm not sure about that. Isn't it illegal to build a sentient robot?

Jeb: Yes, so they're not. So it makes us wary of getting one. Maybe a robotic pet, but not a child.

C.J.: I'm sure Penny would love a robotic pet.

Jeb: (laughs) True. That's probably the better option.

C.J.: Especially if you let her build it. Who knows? That could put her into the attention of the mechanics guild.

Jeb: (thoughtful) You're right there.

(Ashe enters the chat room)

C.J.: Electronica should have some good kits for that. I was considering that as a hobby a while back.

C.J.: Hi Ashe!

Ashe: Hi C.J.! Hi Jeb. I didn't know you two knew each other.

Jeb: We go back a ways. Isn't that right?

C.J.: Yeah… oh, and Opera's on Expel now.

Jeb: Oh dear, Ernest is in trouble, isn't he? (joking)

C.J.: Oh yes he is. (teasing)

Jeb: Actually, I was considering dropping Ernest to an NPC status. You know, since my wife is playing Bowman's wife, while Opera and Ernest were starting to really show some chemistry last time we were together.

C.J.: I see. Well would you mind hanging on to him for just a bit longer? I need to keep Opera's profile from switching and thus locking me entirely out of ES.

Jeb: How's that work?

C.J.: No one's certain, but it's been noticed that among older players, when you get a restriction, your game luck seems to go absurdly high. Like Celine, she wasn't engaged or even close to it before I got the restriction placed. Now she's going to be married in a matter of days.

Jeb: Hmm…

Ashe: Why'd you get a restriction placed on you?

C.J.: Because I'm too old, apparently. It's unfair… here's a topic where it's being discussed (link to topic)

Ashe: That just seems mean (goes to read topic)

C.J.: Opera's major potential change would be getting into a relationship with Ernest. But since it must be mutual consent between both players if the participants are PCs, you owning Ernest would stall that shift until I could get the restriction lifted. On the other hand, if you drop him to be an NPC, that luck factor might end up shifting the relationship before I can do anything reasonable about it.

Jeb: I see.

C.J.: I'll talk to Nancy if it helps.

Jeb: Yeah, you might want to do that. But you're friends, so she should be okay with that explanation.

Ashe: That's got to be awkward, I mean, if your two characters are in a relationship, but then Jeb is married and C.J. is a widow…

C.J.: Sometimes, but I make sure to be nice to her. Other people don't really care about that kind of thing, saying that it's in a virtual world, so it doesn't count. But you feel their emotions too, so it does count on some level.

Jeb: I had to drop one character because someone was being too pushy about that.

C.J.: Then again, dating sims are fun. (laughs at her own hypocrisy)

Ashe: Hah, I'll agree there.

Jeb: So long as you're sure the other one is an NPC.

(Penny enters the chat room)

Penny: Hey Dad!

Jeb: What's up, cupcake?

Penny: I just got a bunch of options unlocked, including a dating option. May I activate that?

Jeb: Sure. But I want to know all the players she has contact with.

Penny: Including you? (teases) Haha, okay dad. (rolls eyes)

C.J.: Oh boy. Jeb, you've just entered a world full of headaches. (laughs)

Jeb: I've been in one. Teenaged daughters…

Penny: Hey!

Jeb: You'll want to be nice to C.J. She just talked me into letting you get a robotic pet building kit.

Penny: Really? Sweet! Thank you thank you thank you! (squees and hugs C.J.)

C.J.: You're welcome, darling.

(Penny has sent a friend request. Accept?)

Ashe: Actually, a robotic pet does sound nice. My house has seemed quiet lately.

(C.J. has accepted Penny's friend request.)

Jeb: We still have to convince your mom, so be a good girl.

Penny: Of course!


	10. Deal with the Devil Phoenix

**Chapter 10: Deal with the Devil Phoenix**

-Leon, Lacour Castle laboratory

Leon was examining a piece of steel from one of the local smiths. It was strong, but heavy. Would it withstand the energy of his vacuum weapon? "Would you make it into a circular pipe with one safety valve?" he asked. "I've got a draft print here." He handed the paper over.

"What's a kid like you want a pipe like this for?" the smith asked. "I'm busy with tournament preparations."

"We lead the castle scientific research laboratory," Leon's mother said. "This is needed for work into Lacour's war defense plans."

"That doesn't look like any weapon I know of," the smith muttered.

"That's because it isn't," Leon said, annoyed at the delay.

"I'll work on it, since it's from the castle. I'll get it to you in two days."

"Okay," Florence said.

After they left the smithy, Leon frowned. "Two days? I'd like to have that information sooner."

"You need to be patient with them." She patted his shoulder. "Not everyone does things at your speed."

They're not as good as me, he thought. There were other things to work on his design so he could pass two days worth of wait. Provided that smith kept the deadline. There was the targeting system. Right now, the release was always in a wild scattering of energy. But that would hurt anyone near the weapon, even the weapon operator. If he could find a way to shoot the energy bundle in a line for a certain distance… could he decide on an aiming range before the energy split apart? He certainly could, once he knew how it would behave in use.

"Do you want to take a walk around town?" his mother asked.

"Not really," he said. Along with targeting, there was also the operator's panel to think of. So far, they had used three or more wizards to start the vacuum points, but they could set those basic spells up with just one. But to sort out the spells to arrive at the right points to form the most efficient use of energy… he'd need to check references. It had been done before with a high degree of accuracy.

"Do you want some ice cream? We can stop by one of the restaurants on our way back. There's no hurry."

"Not right now," he replied. Some spellcasters used a staff to send their spells longer distances. They said that focusing the energy along the weapon encouraged the spell to continue to move in a straight line to the target. This allowed little energy loss with greater distance. Could that work with this weapon? He himself used books to cast, but the staff users did have a good idea.

"Are you really paying attention?" Florence asked.

He blinked, then looked up at her. "Of course I am, Momma. It's just that I've got other things to do right now."

"But you've been so busy the past few days. You need to give your mind a rest every now and then."

Although it annoyed him some, he put up with it because it was her. "I'm trying to get this plan going, but there's a lot of parts to figure out. I've got the idea all in my head; it's just taking time to get all the parts of it down and out somewhere."

"I understand that, sweetie, but I worry about you. You spend so much time in the lab. Sometimes I think your father pushes you too much; you ought to go out and make friends your own age."

"I'm fine, Momma. I want to be doing this."

"All right, if you feel that way."

Sometimes, he did think about being a normal kid. He even daydreamed about going out to play every now and then. But what were those kids doing? Just pretending to be heroes and adults. He had adults counting on him. He was going to build a weapon that would save Lacour from the Elurian demons, which would make him a real hero to everyone. In the end, Leon always decided that pretending was a waste of time. He was actually going to do things.

Even if it wasn't always fun.

* * *

-Ashe, 4D

Sitting in his dining room, Ashe scrolled through a pet adoption site. Maybe it was a good idea. He had been used to his family, including his noisy younger sister. And then there were the college dorms, which managed to be even noisier and busier. Now that he had his own place, all to himself, it was just a bit too quiet.

But considering a pet brought up a lot of decisions. Did he want a real pet or a robotic one? Real pets were more work and some might chew on his models. Robotic pets were almost realistic, but were they realistic enough? He wasn't sure. The only pets he had had as a kid were fish. While they were pretty, they weren't all that interesting. Once he'd decided on that, what kind of animal did he want? Maybe not fish, but a cat, dog, lizard, dragon, what? He would also need to doublecheck his housing district's rules on such things. No point in getting a dragon if it was against the housing rules.

He dropped that search for now and went back to his game room. There, he found a message from Bonita asking him to another party. He declined that; he was too busy with Eternal Sphere events right now. Ashton had a dragon slaying quest to complete.

On thinking of it, Ashe was a bit worried. Nothing particularly bad had happened after Ashton had fallen off XINE's nesting area. He hadn't aggravated the snakes in the berry patch and his hotel room only had moderate annoyances. Was something bad about to happen? Or was the challenge making him paranoid? One never knew when luck decided to be a major factor in the Sphere.

At any rate, Ashton seemed upbeat. It was a definite improvement after the mess in Eluria. Ashe decided to just accept the lull period and carry on.

* * *

-Ashton, Salva Drift entrance

The sun was high in the sky, showing a lovely blue sky without a hint of clouds. Salva was always a busy little town, but today there was anxiety and fear in the villagers. Given that there was a live dragon in the mine, none of the men were working. But there were even more than usual, as the town now held adventurers like himself who came to slay the dragon.

Looking back, Ashton could see that many had already been defeated. They were gathered to try finding a way to defeat it. He'd listened to their stories over the morning, hoping to learn new tips, like how this dragon behaved. As none had succeeded, he had a chance.

Now as he looked into the tunnels of Salva Drift, he felt confident that he could do something. The other fighting men had gone for just brute strength, but Ashton had the advantage of heraldry. He clutched at the small silver cross that he had brought out for this mission. While this would be difficult, he would face down this dragon. He was a knight of Eluria; he could do this.

A local man was serving as a guard to the mine entrance. "Are you here to slay the dragon?"

"Yes I am," he replied.

"There's many that have been defeated before you. Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It's fine. I can handle this."

"All right. The miners have made red cross-outs on signs leading to the dragon's area. There's an active vein of Energy Stone in the area, so be careful not to touch it."

"Thank you." He headed into the mine. He would take care of XINE's price, Eleanor would be fine, and everything would turn out right for once. Ashton made a mental note to give thanks to the gods after this was over.

* * *

-Celine, town of Salva

"You know, I've never had one shopping trip turn out to be so eventful," Celine said as they walked away from the stable holding onto the wagon and royal horses.

"It has been quite adventurous," Kevin said. "Still, we'd better not waste time here."

"Right. What're you two going to do?"

"I'm going to check in on a friend," Rena said. She looked to Claude. "Want to come to Alen's house with me?"

"Sure," he replied.

Although Salva was known for mining many gemstones, there was basically only one shop to buy jewelry at. But they always had local stones, never from any other mine. If they were alchemy stones, they were always local craftsmen, at furthest made in Mars. So it was more appropriate for a royal wedding ring. That still amazed her; she would be the bride in a royal wedding.

Celine went into the store, but there seemed to be no one at the counter. A small gargoyle watched from atop the register, making sure no thieves tried to make off with the jewelry. The whole time, it kept its jewel eyes on them.

"That set is magnificent," Celine said, pointing out a pair. "Whoever crafted those rainbow diamonds did a masterful job. And that gold band is high quality too."

"The Prince trusted you with this decision," Kevin said. "They are nice."

"I think he'd like them. But where's the shopkeeper?" She looked into the doorway in back.

The gargoyle stretched its wings, but did not speak. It probably couldn't. So, there was no answer until one of the doors to the shop opened. A man in a fez popular with merchants came in. "Oh, good afternoon. I run the weapons counter; is there anything I can help you with?"

"We're looking for the jewelry clerk," Celine said.

"She's not back yet? Ah great…" he looked down in a mix of anger and worry. "I told her… she went into the mine this morning to hunt out some stones, but there's a really good reason the mine is closed. There's a dragon hanging about the tunnels."

"A dragon?"

He flipped up the counter on his side of the store and stepped into place. "She said she wouldn't go near the dragon's nest, but still. It was reckless."

Celine thought. "We could go look for her. We'd just have to be careful not to disturb this dragon."

"Are you sure about that?" Kevin asked.

"I'm sure. Dragons emit a specific magic signal, so I'll know where it is if we get too close."

"It's a demon dragon, though," the weapons clerk pointed out.

She smiled. "Well that makes it even easier. It'll be as hard to miss as a lighthouse beacon. Sir, do you know if she carries any specific jewels, so that I might be able to track her that way?"

"She usually wears a sapphire necklace, but not always."

"It's a hint. Thank you." She looked to Kevin. "Do you have a problem with this?"

He shook his head. "No, I am simply concerned about returning you to Cross Castle unharmed. If we avoid the dragon, it's fine. Let's go check out the mine."

As the major mine entrance was just north of town, they walked through the streets of Salva again to reach the Drift. They encountered Claude and Rena on the way. "I thought you were going to visit a friend," Celine said.

"Well he wasn't at home," Rena said in a worried voice. "The butler said he might have gone into the mines, which is not good for him."

"Because of the dragon? The jewelry store clerk went in there too, so we can't do anything until we find her."

"We asked around, but it's been mostly the fighting men who've encountered the dragon," Claude said. "But they didn't see anyone else. The two of them must have figured that they could avoid the dragon."

Since they were searching for people, the group decided to split into pairs. Claude and Rena went down one of the marked passages while Celine and Kevin went down another. Eventually they came upon unmarked passages as well. In the coal dust on the floor, there were fresh tracks down some tunnels. They could avoid any that didn't seem to be recently traveled.

Then they heard voices. "Alen, you don't have to do this."

"It won't leave my mind! I'm just going to fall prey to something else. I'm no good."

"You're still recovering. You're not that bad."

"It would all be better if I was gone!"

When they came around the corner, there was a green haired woman in a dark green dress talking to a young man in a violet cloak. It was a dead end. Alen had his hand on the wall; he seemed to be disoriented and crying, his clothes and skin covered in coal dust. The woman, who was dressed more sensibly with gloves, tall boots, and even a miner's hat, tried to take his hand, but he swatted her away. When they came closer, the woman turned to them. "What are you doing here?"

"We came looking for you both," Celine said. Even if their primary goal was getting the clerk back to the store, it was obviously a bad idea to ignore this Alen.

The clerk nodded and looked back to him. "See? I told you that others are worried. Come on, let's go back into town."

"I don't know if I can overcome this," Alen said, refusing to look at them.

"I'm sorry for his behavior," she said softly. "But he's recovering from an illness."

"Why don't you just say a madness?" he interrupted sharply.

"From an unprocessed Energy Stone," she finished.

"I see," Celine said, coming closer. "Well you need to come out of the mine then. It's more dangerous for you here."

"Are people really looking for me?" Alen asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Yes." At least Rena and Claude were. Probably the servants of his house too.

"Don't know why they'd care," he muttered. But he gave up and let them take him out of Salva Drift.

* * *

-Ashton, deep Salva Drift

The tunnels were lit by crystal lamps, which cast out bright light without posing a fire hazard. Dust from mining still hung in the air, giving it an earthy coal scent. Although Ashton tried to go quietly, the small rocks scattered in the path crunched under his feet. He could hear other sounds ahead, like monsters breathing, claw scrapes, and rustles of rocks. He was close, that was certain.

He came around a turn and there it was. Its violet body was a slithering mass, like an impossibly thick snake that was making a loose knot of its own body. As it seemed to have no legs or arms, it took up the entire tunnel with its long mass. About seven feet from the heads, the body split into two necks. One changed over to bright red scales while the other changed to pale lavender. The two massive heads looked much alike, save for the frills. On the red one, the neck frills were curving and swaying, like a growing flame. On the lavender one, the neck frills were sharp and straight, like icicles.

Noticing a new challenger, the dragon heads snorted and rose up to the nine-foot roof. They roared in unison, creating such a racket that Ashton felt it in his bones. Pushing aside any intimidation this caused in his heart, the young swordsman brought out his twin blades. He brought one in defensively, but held the other one out as a challenge reply. "Dragon! I have come here on the word of XINE and I will be the one to defeat you! You shall pay for making the people of this village suffer."

The two heads both reacted on hearing XINE's name, drawing back quickly as if startled. Then all four eyes narrowed and it hissed with hatred. Somehow, this mine-dwelling dragon knew of the mountain phoenix and did not like him at all. The red head lunged forward and blasted a stream of fire at Ashton, putting the battle into motion.

Sidestepping the fire stream, Ashton ran at the dragon, bringing up a special heraldry move. If he could pull this off, it would knock the dragon's endurance down quickly. He brought both blades up, then swung them across the dragon's skin, pulled one back, slashed across with the other, then whirled around to hit with the second, then the first again…

_The Sword Dance is a sign of an honorable Elurian knight and is never taught to those disloyal to the king._

Dang it. He always got hung up at that part. At any rate, the aborted attempt had left deep wounds on the dragon, near its neck split. The lavender ice head attempted to bite him, but he blocked with his left blade and stabbed the red fire head in the neck. Ashton then backed off to plan his next move.

In this part of the mine, there was enough space for two miners to work in the same area. With the dragon, there was hardly any room to maneuver. He couldn't side step around the writhing mass to get at it from behind. He would have to deal with the heads at the front. When the fire head came back down to breath a stream of fire, Ashton twin stabbed it right there, giving it a bleeding wound on the snout. That head jerked back with a yelp. Then the ice head froze its own jaw and came in to attack. This time, it managed to bite Ashton's right hand. His nerves all went numb after sending a shriek of pain to his mind.

Grimacing but not crying out, he attempted to take out its eyes with his left blade. It didn't quite work, but a cut imbued with lightning gave it a badly bleeding wound on its jaw. When it released him, he had spatters of dragon blood on him. That could be dealt with later.

He knew for certain that he could deal with the ice head easily, so he moved to the left and worked on defeating the fire head. Crossing his blades over his body, he hit it with Lightning Strike which came out to be as messy as the last strike. But while he was finishing off that move, the fire head managed to bite his left hand. It didn't hold on like the other, but that wound seemed to burn. This wasn't a low intelligence dragon that dealt only in brute strength.

The two heads cried out in union as a gathering of magic came to them. They were going to combine their powers for a single strike now. Shoot. Moving quickly, Ashton got to the dragon's body as its heads moved down. A blast of both fire and ice shot down the tunnels. Nothing combusted, but the air was left decidedly smoky when the power cleared. While he was there, Ashton attempted to attack the main body. The scales were harder here, though, deflecting his blades with bright sparks. Then it seemed that he had to cut off both heads in order to defeat this dragon.

Moving back and to the left to draw single attacks, Ashton got in another Lightning Strike against the fire head. It roared, but was starting to sound winded. Good. Then the ice head tried a bite again, this time at Ashton's head. He moved aside before getting decapitated, but the dragon managed to catch hold of the cord holding onto his protective cross and snap it. The silver charm dropped onto the floor.

The fight was back to being against him now. Without that holy protection, it could now use its more demonic attacks against him. Those would be more deadly than the straight fire and ice skills it had been using so far. Time was of the essence. He used Lightning Strike against the fire head; as he was having trouble pulling off Sword Dance, it was his strongest skill that wasn't a grass move (which would do little against a fire enemy). Once the fire head was exhausted, he could take down the ice head, then cut both necks to finish off the dragon.

Ashton went in for a simple strike against the fire head. For a moment, he thought he heard a voice behind him shouting. He couldn't quite tell, not with his focus on the dragon. Both heads then went in for a simple double bash move, which he narrowly dodged. He went in to strike again and the voice came back. Clearer this time. And then another. "You need to lower your stance."

Huh? Ashton managed to block another bash move from the heads, then glanced back. There were two people back there. Great. He wouldn't mind the help, actually, but it might tick off XINE. Not to mention the lack of space here. "Would you keep quiet back there?" he called. "It's too dangerous around…"

"Look out!"

He braced himself for another bash; they hadn't cried out a union attack again. But when he looked back to the dragon, there was a bright flash of silver light. It overtook his vision. What now? He kept in a defensive position.

Without warning, the heraldic tattoos on his body began glowing. They lifted off his skin somehow, shining green and yellow against the silver brightness. A heraldic crest appeared beyond that, a giant circle diagram with a large bird surrounded by symbols of fire, life, and demons. Past that, two more crests appeared. Both were dragon crests, one of fire and one of ice.

There was a massive exchange of power that sapped all of Ashton's energy. For a moment, he felt like he was going to faint. Then his crests shattered completely. The dragon crests passed through the bird crest, then fused themselves to replace Ashton's tattoos. In a weird way, that reenergized him but with a different power.

XINE's voice broke through to him. "By the blood that ye three have mixed, thy powers shall combine and become one. No longer separate, you shall be one. Ashton, knight of Eluria, this is the price you will pay for Eleanor's life. You will take care of these two from now until the time when the girl would have perished no matter how much she struggled. That will be one year."

_What the **** is this about XINE? What's on your ****** **** **** bastard **** mind? If you weren't such a ******* coward, we'd ******** maul you into a billion ******** pieces!_

_Huh? We didn't do this…_

"I did it," XINE said smugly. "You two loonies need to get out of that stupid mine anyhow. That is the price you must pay for my assistance earlier." The phoenix laughed cruelly. As it faded, so did the silver brightness.

_**** you, XINE._

What's going on? Ashton wasn't sure, but he felt strange. As his eyes adjusted back to the darkness of the mine, he couldn't see the dragon anymore. But he did see the two people from before. They were closer now, so he could see that it was a young man in brown and yellow clothes and a teenaged girl in a blue jumper and short red cape. "Are you all right?" the girl called, apparently not seeing him.

He started to walk over to them, but nearly tripped on some loose rocks. He felt off-kilter, but wasn't sure why. Maybe whatever that spell XINE had cast had knocked him harder than he thought. "Yes, but where's the dragon? Did it escape?"

After a second, the two of them looked startled. They backed off, uncertain of what was going on. Checking back, he still didn't see the dragon. He normally kept his patience well, but after that battle, this was irritating.

"I was asking you, did you see the dragon escape?" He came forward, but then had to put his hand on the wall to keep himself upright.

"Um," the girl said. "On your back."

That just didn't make sense. That dragon had taken up the whole tunnel. There was no way that it could be behind him. Back there, there was just the wall, and…

And a smaller red dragon head came into his vision. _Boo._

Wait, they were the voices he was now hearing in his head? So XINE had forced a demonic dragon possession on him. That would mean the dragons were going to be with him all the time now! Freaking out, Ashton slipped and hit his head against the mine wall. "Ow."

_Ooch, careful there,_ the other voice said. The lavender head came up front and shook itself. _We're still hurt from that battle too, you know._

"Careful," the girl said, coming over. Her friend came over too. "I'm sorry. We thought we would try to support you from in back, but it seems we distracted you too much. We didn't mean it." She drew a crest in the air.

Unexpectedly, all the pains from the battle went away. Even the bites on his hands stopped hurting like fire and ice. He looked at them and saw that the vision was true. He had lost his lightning and grass tattoos to gain dragon crests of ice and fire. What the… that was going to mess up all of his heraldic moves. But then, he was healed. "You have healing powers?" Ashton asked the girl, puzzled.

"Oh, yes," she said, a bit embarrassed. "I can't do anything about a possession, though."

"We're sorry about that," the young man said. "I thought about coming over to help, but there wasn't much space."

But it had been XINE who had set this up. Ashton waved it away. "No, you don't have to apologize. That was a bit distracting, but it seems it would have happened either way. Aw man, what am I going to do now?"

"Maybe you can find a priest who can perform an exorcism?" the girl suggested, trying to be helpful.

There came cries from the two dragons, not quite as intimidating as they were smaller. _Oh, please don't do that to us!_

_I will ******* eat you if you do._

He shook his head. "No, that won't work." Part of his mind thought he shouldn't have made that deal with XINE now _No kidding_, but then if he hadn't, Eleanor would have died. That was worth a year of this awkwardness. Wasn't it? He got up. "Well, thanks for healing me. I'm getting out of here."

Ashton went over to pick up his silver cross, but then it burned him when the charm touched his hand. He ended up giving it to the girl in exchange for being healed. "Thanks," she said. "I'm Rena Lanford, and this is Claude Kenni."

"Nice to meet you," he said politely, although there was barely anything nice about this incident. "I'm Ashton Anchors."

"Scriiiiii!" A pair of monsters appeared in the tunnel with them. They were strange creatures with the head of a fae woman and the lower body of a spider. Although they looked strange, they also had those razor sharp claws and teleporting powers.

All right, time to see how much he could still do. Ashton brought out his swords again and twin stabbed the one nearest to him. In the meantime, Claude took his sword in his left hand and attacked the other spider woman. "Careful Claude," Rena called, and backed up to prepare a spell.

"I'm fine," he said. He managed to finish off his monster at the same time Ashton did. Although, Ashton had to deal with rebalancing his moves now with these dragons hanging onto his back.

"You're pretty good," Ashton told Claude. "But why do you hang your shield from your shoulder?"

"Oh, this?" He tapped the large knight's shield that was hanging a little high. "I nearly got my arm broke in a battle yesterday. I'm still getting used to using my left hand fighting."

Then how good was he with his dominant hand whole? Ashton felt humbled. "Ah, I see."

They trekked back to the entrance of the mine and met with the guard. There were four others with him now. "Oh, there you are darlings," a sorceress said. Then she saw him. Her eyes widened. "Ah…"

When the others saw him, they all were shocked too, either with disgust, distrust, or curiosity. Ashton looked down as he felt his face get warm. This was going to happen everywhere now, he realized. Maybe he should just hide out in the woods for the next year.

* * *

_This story's back? ha ha. Something got me interested in it again, and then I started playing SO2 again (trying for a no-Rena party with Opera, no Earnest, as I haven't done any of that before). I mean, I have four other new (to me) games that I'm working through or have yet to start, and I go back to this one. I really just love it that much._

_As I've mentioned, I'm trying to avoid backtracking as much as possible for this story, which means altering PAs (the lost jam store owner becoming the jewelry clerk) and side-quest events. Plus, I'm trying to work the story a bit better, such as mixing up Eleanor's sickness and Ashton's possession. In the game, Ashton gets into your party by demanding that you take responsibility for his possession. And then you can go on a side-quest to attempt an exorcism ceremony. To see what happens here, wait until the next chapter._

_Hopefully I'll get that up soon, and not months from now..._


	11. Reluctant Dragon Knight

**Chapter 11: Reluctant Dragon Knight**

-Opera, town of Salva

The bar in Salva was busy, something that made Opera hopeful. There were the miners, either celebrating or despairing the reopening of the mine after some incident with a dragon. There were also fighting men, travelers who had come to defeat the dragon but had failed. Of the groups, it was the latter that she mostly talked to. It was rough, though. "Why don't you give up on that guy, eh?" one wanderer asked with a rakish grin. "You come hang out with me, I'll treat you better."

Smiling dangerously, she took the hand of the guy, then twisted it about and pinned it to the table. "I don't think so, my good man. And you won't be trying to force me into anything, right?"

He paled. "Uh-ah, n-no m'am. L-let me go, please?"

"Maybe." She leaned over. "So have you seen a man with three eyes?"

Shaking his head, he gripped his arm with his free hand. "N-no, I haven't. What is that about anyhow?"

"It's a magic side-effect." Then she let him go. "Hmph, one would think a traveler like you would have better information." She started for the stairs.

"Er, um, you might try the guy who beat the dragons?" the guy said desperately. "H-he must be well traveled too."

"Could be. Is he around?"

"He's, um," he pointed down to the bar. "He's the guy with the dragons. I just heard about it from some other guys. He, uh, mostly defeated them, we guess, since they're not in the mine anymore."

"Mostly defeated? Well all right." Opera went down the stairs and to the bar.

At the bar, she found a young man who looked like he'd had a bit much already. He wore a black coat over his armor and a violet scarf around his neck. And attached to his upper back near the shoulders were a pair of dragon heads. There was a lavender one with a spiky frill that was apparently sleeping on the swordsman's head. The red one with the flame frill was nodding along to the music of a nearby piano player. Although she'd think he and the other patrons would be celebrating after defeating a dragon, he had his head in his hands and everyone was keeping clear of him.

Ignoring that, Opera sat on the stool next to him. "So you defeated the mine dragon, huh?"

"Leave me alone," he muttered.

"Why? It's a thing to be proud of, defeating something like a dragon."

"Not like I did," he grumbled, finally putting his hands down to take another drink of his beer.

The barkeeper came over, so Opera waved him down. "Excuse me, but could I get a mug? Preferably something stronger than that number 3 draft I had. That was weak."

"Weak?" one of the others at the bar said.

"If you say so," the barkeeper said, peeved that she would call his beers weak. He took a glass mug and filled it with dark colored beer from another barrel. "There, the Night Shift beer. It'll hit you before you get halfway through that."

"Right," she said sarcastically. What they didn't know was that as a Tetragenes, alcohol didn't affect her system the way it did theirs. She took a drink of it. "That's more decent. Now you," she turned back to the swordsman.

"Ashton," he said reluctantly.

"Right, Ashton. I'm Opera. You look like a traveler."

"Yeah, so what of it?" He looked over at her, then blinked. "Hey you… look like somebody."

"Do I? I'm looking for my boyfriend, Ernest. Have you seen a blond haired man with three eyes around?"

"Right, yeah, that Ernest guy… you from the same village? Cause of that three eye heraldry thing." He waved his hand in front of his forehead.

"You know him?" She grabbed his arm before she thought twice of it. Finally, a break! "Where is he? Is he here? When did you see him last?"

Ashton jerked back, startling the lavender dragon head awake. It blinked blearily at her. "Ow, hey! Man, you've got a grip Opera."

"Oh, sorry." She let him go, then took another drink of her beer. "But Ernest? Where is he?"

"He's, ah…" his two eyes blanked. "Good question."

Opera gripped her mug. That was always the problem with interviewing alien beings who were drunk. Just be patient, she reminded herself. He's more likely to talk about it now. "Right. So when did you see him last?"

"It was…" he counted on his fingers, looking up at the roof. "Um… about a week ago. He left our group cause he was going somewhere to… go somewhere, or something. He came with us to the Lagauss Mountains to look for some herbs." As his thoughts moved on, his eyes got downcast and upset again. "Dammit."

"Are there any ruins around here?" she asked, trying to encourage his memory. "He would be there."

"Yeah, cause he said he was an arcadol-something…"

"Archeologist."

"Right, that. There aren't any ruins in Lasguss." He seemed to be distracted again.

Opera took another drink, trying to figure out how to get the information out of this guy. As she was formulating another question, a young pair entered the bar and came over to them. "There you are, Ashton," the girl said. "Are you all right?"

"What the hell do you think?" he responded, slamming his fist down. "Things were finally starting to be decent and I had to screw everything up by accepting that demon bird's offer. I was supposed to be striving to follow holy ways and now I'm possessed by a demonic power so strong that a holy charm burns my skin! I'm a freak now, a disgrace to Eluria."

"Eluria?" the young man asked, part interested, but part worried about Ashton.

"All because I ran away from the Sorcery Globe," he said, shaking his head. "I never deserved to be a knight. That's why the sign came…"

"You should come back to the inn for the night," the girl said, kindly taking his arm. "Excuse me barkeeper, but can we get a glass of purified water?"

"Sure thing," he said, soon bringing over a water glass. "He hasn't paid his tab yet."

"I'll take care of that," Opera said. She drank the last of her beer, then put down one of her gold bracelets. It had a row of small synthetic diamonds around it. In fact, it was all synthetic and quite cheap on her homeworld. "Will that do?"

His jaw dropped a bit, then he took the bracelet. "Y-yes, that'll cover it nicely. Take care of him now." He then went back to put it in a safe place, away from the other patrons.

"You should just ditch me," Ashton said, although he went grudgingly.

"Don't worry about it," the girl said. "And thanks, m'am."

"No problem," Opera said, leaving the bar with them. "I think he knows something about someone I'm looking for, but I'd better wait until his mind clears up."

"Right."

The three of them got Ashton to the inn and eventually to sleep. Rena said she was tired, so she went on to bed. Excusing herself, Opera went downstairs to rent another room. But the man Claude followed her down. "Excuse me, but Opera? Can we talk outside for a while?"

"Sure," she said. Once she got her key, she thanked the innkeeper and left with him. "Such an oddly named place. The Hopping Penguin?"

"Yeah, I had that reaction too," Claude said. After glancing around, he spoke quieter. "So what's a Tetragenes like you doing on Expel?"

Smiling, she replied. "So you know the truth? It's not so easy for me to hide. Where are you from?"

"Earth, but I was on a survey mission on Milocina when I triggered some unknown device. It somehow transported me all the way out here with only what I was carrying at the time. And you?"

She put her hand to her chin. "Oh, you're lost too? I came here after my boyfriend, Ernest. He's an archeology professor at Scelida University; I teach history theory. He went missing on this planet some six months ago. But when I came, my ship encountered some problems and I have to use the emergency capsule to get out alive."

Claude was disappointed. "You're stranded too. This isn't good."

"Now don't give up just yet," Opera said, patting his shoulder. "Ernest is a good man, but still… sometimes he drives me nuts. I feel that he got wrapped up in researching one ruin or another and hasn't thought to come back home. Anyhow, he may have a working ship somewhere. That is, once I find him."

"I see."

"That fellow Ashton seems to know Ernest. At least he remembers the excuse that he and I give whenever we're on low technology planets like this. We can find Ernest and drop you back off at your ship. I assume you were with the Pangalactic fleet?"

He nodded. "Right." He tugged at his jacket. "I just got some local clothes to fit in better. That might help you too."

She laughed, thinking of her black gown with the split skirt. "I know. I would have fixed up a better outfit than this, but it was an emergency landing. There wasn't time for that. At least I got my gun altered." She patted it.

"But why would you both come to an underdeveloped planet like this with that kind of technology? Doesn't that break the UP3 laws?"

She waved her finger in the air. "Nu-huh. We don't break the UP3. Bend it, yes, but we do everything we can not to break it. Besides, the Federation has almost no information on this planet. They'll pay us a good amount for a personal study so long as we can prove no laws were broken."

"I guess." He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"Why don't we take a short walk if you're not tired?" Opera suggested. "You look like you could use a free talk with someone not of this world."

He laughed some. "I guess. Yeah, thank you." They headed south, just outside of town.

"So you got here via a strange teleporting device," Opera started with.

"Right. I was with my father's ship, the Calnus."

"Wait, so you're the son of Commodore Kenni?"

"Yeah, I am," he said, seeming sheepish about it. He must have realized it because he said, "I mean, I love my dad and I'm proud of him, but… it was always tough for me. Few people took me seriously. They thought I'd advanced through the ranks simply because of my family connection. I worked hard for it, though."

"That is tough. I know how it is, being part of the Vectra family."

He gave her a knowing look. "The Tetragenes business empire? Yeah, it's not easy living with famous parents."

"Especially when they want you to follow in their footsteps, picking up the family legacy and all. But it's your story tonight, not mine."

With a chuckle, he let her know that she'd gotten that right on target. "Anyhow, I ended up in a forest south of here, Shingo Forest. I had no clue where I was; Milocina was practically barren, without a thick forested area like that. Then I saw Rena, and a big gorilla monster that was stalking her. I ended up fighting it with my phase gun. I shouldn't have, but I had just been given that weapon and was told to use it in a dangerous situation like that so…"

"It was an emergency," Opera reassured him. "That's bending the laws."

"I hope so. She took me into Arlia, which is her hometown. At first, I just tried talking to the villagers but…. Well I don't have any training in dealing with underdeveloped civilizations. I had a hard time coming up with a common ground and I can't even read here. And then Argis, the mayor of Arlia, tells me that they think I'm the Warrior, some legendary hero that's supposed to save Expel from a worldwide crisis."

"Oh dear," she said, with a slight smile. "Sometimes you think that that kind of attention would be a great thing, but when you're in the thick of it, it can be hard to deal with."

He nodded. "Yeah, especially when I knew absolutely nothing about this legend or even this world. I tried explaining myself without coming outright and saying that I was from another world. I don't think I did very well, but I did get them to drop the Warrior issue. The people of Arlia were kind to me, though without helpful information. I started coming to other places to try and find any clues. My communicator never gets a response and it seemed like I was truly stuck here. But then another incident came up, in this town actually, where the issue of me being the Warrior came up again…" he shrugged. "I hadn't changed my clothes from my Federation uniform, so that was part of the problem."

"Did you ever shake that title?"

"No. Rumors got spread too far. At least I'm not being swamped by people begging me to save this world. At any rate, Argis also told me of the Sorcery Globe. Have you heard about it?"

She shook her head. "Can't say that I have. I haven't been here as long as you."

"I see. Well about five or six months ago, this strange meteorite fell onto the capitol of another kingdom, Eluria. Everyone thought it was just a strange and tragic thing, but then the kingdom of Eluria found itself fending off hordes of violent demons. The way he said it, and this incident with the demon dragon of Salva Drift, makes me think that they have native demons here that aren't always violent. Anyhow, animals and then people also became violent and turned into demons. The land was torn apart by earthquakes, storms, and the like. It seems that Eluria was almost completely destroyed by the demons."

"Huh. And so they think that the meteorite is the source of these demons?"

"Right. They call it the Sorcery Globe for that reason. It was just restricted to Eluria at first, but such things have spread to here on the Cross continent, and the neighboring continent of Lacour. I saw a thriving port city be destroyed in less than half an hour by winds, quakes, and waves. And the demons they have here are quite dangerous. Two people that I know of have turned mad. Of course, both of those were related to a strange mineral called an Energy Stone."

"That's a rather simplistic name."

"I know. Apparently it's native to Expel, but very dangerous if unprocessed. Prolonged exposure causes delusions of power and magnification of any emotions. Primarily negative ones such as vanity and jealousy. It glows bright green, but if the stone can be broken and made not to glow, it stops affecting the person. Or can kill them, if they've been around it too long."

Opera thought about it. "Huh. Sounds like a radioactive material. It could be a runelogical mineral as well, affecting these people and animals by magic."

"Right." He paused, then said, "Sorry about getting sidetracked there. The end result of all this information I've learned made me wonder about this Sorcery Globe. Rena and I plan on going to Eluria to check it out. Which is why we'd like Ashton's help, if he's native to that country. He might know better information than what we've gotten thus far. That is, if he's willing to talk about it."

"I see. That is interesting. The Federation will want to know of this material. Plus, if that meteorite is causing problems, it should be recorded."

"So as much as I'd like to get home, I still want to see this Sorcery Globe in Eluria."

Opera smiled. "That's fine, Claude. I think if we told Ernest, he wouldn't let us leave without an investigation of it. Well, if both of us need Ashton's help, and eventually a way off the planet, it might help if we stuck together."

He smiled back. "Yeah, it would. But let's wait until tomorrow when we can discuss it with Rena and Ashton. We

still have to know if he wants to join us and if it's okay for you to come too."

* * *

-chat room, 4D

Theo: Are you kidding me? That's freaking awesome!

Ashe: Yeah, well you try having all your hard work on a challenge play go down the drain because some crazy bird decides to make your character possessed by a pair of dragons. (sigh)

C.J.: Not to mention that it made him upset enough that he went out and got drunk about it. Is he still asleep?

Ashe: Lemme check.

Ashe: Yup, still out like a light.

Ashe: His magic and skills are all shot to hell along with the elemental change, so he's down to three special moves, from twenty. (winces)

Theo: That is bad. What's he got left?

Ashe: Twin Stab, Cross Slash, and Leaf Slash. And the last one has a negative modifier until he gets used to the elemental shift.

Theo: That's like a novice dueler's moveset, right?

Theo: But still, you have dragons now! Some players will give their characters massive handicaps in order to have a dragon pet or partner. And others even play those awful hybrids just to be dragon like.

C.J.: But it's back to the old grind, huh? To get Ashton back to his old level.

Ashe: Right, and to overcome that mental block that keeps him from using Sword Dance. This ain't gonna help that.

Ashe: I suppose it could be neat, and some of the fire and ice type heraldic dueling moves are really sweet looking.

C.J.: That they are. I saw some videos for them a while back. Still, I like my Explosions (giggles).

Ashe: Oh, and do you know who plays Claude and Rena? Claude's got a good player, but Rena seems like a hacker's work.

C.J.: Sometimes I think they're both hacked characters. But no, I don't know. Celine's been hanging around them for several days now, but I've not heard a peep out of their players.

Theo: Maybe they're NPCs?

C.J.: I doubt that.

Ashe: How many NPCs do you know of that would fight with their non-dominant left hand because their right is in a sling? And wear his shield funny to protect that injured arm? And still kick a teleporting monster's ass?

Theo: Whoa… that's hardcore, even for a player.

* * *

-Ashton, town of Salva

_I don't want to wake up._

Ashton tried to keep his eyes closed, but the light was still there. His mouth was dry and his head throbbed. Gah… he didn't drink often, as they discouraged that kind of thing among the Elurian knights. But yesterday seemed to have deserved it. Now if only he'd managed to get one of the other fighting men mad enough at him to end this whole problem…

"This should be better for traveling," a woman's voice said.

Huh?

"It looks nice on you," another female said, more girl-ish.

"Not exactly high class fashion, but yes, practical," a third female said.

He opened his eyes; the brightness of the sunlight caused him to wince. Okay, Ashton thought, what happened last night to put me in an inn room with three women? He couldn't remember clearly.

_That would be ******* awesome if you could remember it!_

_We got drunk and went to sleep, none of that nasty business._

_Aw hell. That ***** bird could have put us with a more interesting person._

Ashton got up and rubbed his eyes. There was a glass of water by his bedside, so he got a drink of that. On looking around, it was a typical inn room of a wooden building. A screen with a bamboo print prevented him from seeing the rest of the room. But a young man with blond hair… Claude… came over. "Good, you're awake. How're you feeling?"

"Awful," he grumbled. "But to be expected. I should not have done that." He rubbed his forehead.

"I'll go tell the innkeeper to make your breakfast," one of the women said. The door opened, then shut again.

They talked for a little while. Claude was a nice guy and didn't make Ashton feel much worse about yesterday. After a bit, a Cross knight named Kevin joined them. It seemed they were going to head for Cross Castle, but wanted to make sure he was okay. And to offer him a ride along with them. He agreed to that. These people seemed to accept him for now, so he'd at least have a few hours to think on what he wanted to do.

After he ate his breakfast and cleaned up some, the group left Salva in a horse-drawn wagon. Along with Rena, Claude, and Kevin, there was a sorceress named Celine and a three-eyed woman named Opera. Opera had long blond hair with a feathered clip above her right ear. She wore a white turtleneck with a gold necklace, the pendant being a mottled orange and brown stone, along with a long loose red skirt. After a while, Ashton recalled talking to her about Ernest last night.

"Oh, Opera?" Ashton spoke up in a quiet moment. "We were talking about Ernest last night…"

"Yes, we were," she said, quickly looking to him.

"I still don't remember exactly where he was going. He only mentioned it as he was leaving us. But I think he meant to go by Mountain Palace."

"Mountain Palace, huh?" She seemed oddly unaware of it.

"It's an old underground complex that the royalty of Cross used to inhabit during times of war," Kevin explained. "It lies in the mountain that holds Lake Col. When uninhabited by people, it has a tendency to become overrun with monsters. The knights often train there."

"I see." She looked thoughtful.

"Actually, it might not be a bad idea for you both to visit," Kevin said to Claude and Rena. "It's a good place to train yourself in battle and if you intend on investigating the Sorcery Globe and Eluria, you'd best be confident and prepared."

"I've been thinking that myself," Claude said. "Vermillion said that someone in Eluria gave him powers to connect to his Energy Stone. So whatever is there now must be stronger than him."

Eluria. Ashton looked down at his feet. Was that why they had offered to take him to the castle? He might have slipped something last night. But then there was what XINE had told him on the mountaintop, that he would never be satisfied with anything until he overcame himself. Maybe he had to go back to Eluria to do that. Could he do that, though?

Then he looked back to the people traveling with him. They were nice people, as far as he could tell. Claude and Rena had apologized for distracting him without hesitation. And then they had paid for putting him up in the inn, while Opera over there had paid for his bar tab. They were trying to help him out when he was on a bad turn. He needed to be more like them. Maybe it would help.

"So you two are going to Eluria?" Ashton asked.

Rena nodded. "Yes, to investigate the Sorcery Globe. We were going to leave from Clik, but then it got destroyed in a matter of minutes. It seems to have been caused by the demons in Eluria."

"Really? I had heard that it had been destroyed in a freak catastrophe, but not that it had been a demon."

"It was this strange metal man who floated in the air," Celine said. "He spoke in a horrid voice and said they were stopping all ships from Cross, more or less because they were bored. Only demons could be so terrible."

"Really. Would you mind if I come with you? I mean, I have a lot of ground to cover to get used to fighting with these guys hanging on," he pointed to the red dragon, "but I'm not really doing anything else… might as well be doing something useful."

Rena smiled. "Sure, it'll be great to have you along, Ashton."

"Yeah, you were fighting really well back in Salva Drift," Claude added.

"Not as well as I could," he said bashfully, rubbing his hands together. "Thanks."

The blue haired girl leaned forward. "Oh, and your dragons… do they have names?"

Ashton was puzzled. "Huh? Names?"

_Nope, can't think of any we have._

_There's some rather colorful ones some *********** came up with…_

_No proper names._

He shook his head. "No, they don't."

"Can I name them, then? They are fellow travelers, so they ought to have names."

"Um, well _I don't see why not_ hey don't go stealing my voice!"

"You're going to name the dragons?" Kevin asked, looked at her as if she were odd.

"Well they are cute," Rena said. She pointed to the red one. "This one's cute with his popping out eyes." Then she pointed to the lavender one. "And this one's cute with his weepy eyes."

"I don't think that's the issue here," Ashton said, trying not to sound too nervous. Why was he nervous?

_Cause I'm nervous. I've never had a name before._

_Names are ******* useless._

After a moment of thought, Rena brightened. "I know. The one with the popping out eyes will be Gyoro, and the one with the weepy eyes will be Ururun."

"That's interesting," Claude said, although his tone said he wasn't too certain about it.

The one that she'd named Gyoro barked and the one she'd named Ururun made a humming sound. Ururun said _Hey, I like it._

In contrast, Gyoro said, _Why the hell do we get different names? We're the same **** dragon._

_Well they see different heads and we've always been a bit uniq… ooo, BARREL!_ Ururun turned around to look at a trade wagon passing by theirs.

_Well at least I got the manly name._

'Is it manly?' Ashton looked over to Rena. "They seem to be okay with those names."

She smiled. "Oh good."

"Excuse me," Opera said, "But may I travel with you as well? If you mean to go to Mountain Palace, I intend to go there anyways to look for Ernest. Even if I don't find him there, it's safer to be traveling with a group."

"That could be good," Rena said with a smile. "We'll have a good traveling party then. What do you two think?"

"It helps everybody, so why not?" Ashton said.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Claude added.

Kevin chuckled. "That's great for you. I have to stay at the castle, but I'll talk to my superior and get you all permission to enter that place."

For himself, Ashton felt glad. He never had liked traveling alone. Plus, knowing that a healer like Rena was nearby would help with his retraining, to get used to fighting with the two dragons.

* * *

-Celine, Cross Castle lobby

Celine and Kevin walked into Cross Castle. "I suppose you'll have to be getting used to this place as your home now," the knight said.

She nodded. Looking around at the grand staircases, the candle chandelier, the expensive statues… "It is nice. But yes, it will take some time to get used to the idea."

"Celine!" Chris walked down the stairs, smiling. He greeted her with a hug. His father and a few other guards came down behind him. "It's good to see you again. I heard about Clik; were you injured?"

She shook her head. "No. A lot of things happened while getting everything done. We're fine."

"How are things?" the King asked, looking to Kevin.

Saluting, the knight replied, "Good, your majesty. She's not like the noblewomen around here, but I think it will be a good thing. She certainly won't stand by passively while events unfold. The people should like her."

"Kevin?" Celine asked, moving aside, but taking Chris' hand.

"Sorry, my lady," Kevin said, "but the King asked me to watch you and see how you were in everyday affairs. But you've shown me no reason to use against this marriage."

"We are glad that he has found someone to be happy with," the King said. "But there are many more things to consider. The Lacour family seems to be all right with this so far, but we still must talk personally with them."

If there was nothing to argue against the marriage, then Celine was happy with it. "I understand, Kevin. You're a good knight, and man."

* * *

_So we get a view on Claude's side of the story. I feel the beginning of SO2 is one of the weaker areas. Part of it is just how long it takes to get through all the dialogue, but part of it is how the reasoning for sending Claude and Rena after the Sorcery Globe is. The SG and Claude appear out of nowhere, so they must be connected, and the SG and the strange green rock Alen had both drive people crazy, so that much be connected. Illogical much? But I suppose if church and faith are strong enough, then it would be reason enough for the Expellians to believe it to be so. And Claude figures he can't do much anyhow, so might as well do something useful._

_Eh, the story's much less of a draw than the gameplay (which is addictive and fun). And I like tackling weird stories for rewrites, so all's fine by me.  
_

_I've found that even people who haven't played much of SO2 might still know about Ashton's fixation on barrels. Probably because it's one of the stranger characteristics in the gaming world. I shifted it to Ururun for now. But don't worry; after a while, you might become interested in barrels too by listening to that dragon.  
_

_You know, on my recent playthrough, I've noticed something really weird. People on Expel talk and talk about earthquakes happening. Arlia supposedly had quite a few, at least minor tremors. But when you poke around in people's homes, you'll see vases and plates on displays, stuff that should have gotten broken in quakes. Maybe they know special heraldry for fixing stuff?  
_


	12. Young Gearheads

**Chapter 12: Young Gearheads**

-Penny, 4D

The school room was quiet. Penny's class was taking a social studies test. Thinking this was annoyingly easy, the sixteen-year-old moved through the questions quickly.

_18. Q: If a conflict mediator is not present in an area, what must be done?_

_A: No one may enter the area unless they have specific government permission to enter a mediator-free zone._

_19. Q: At what age is a citizen allowed to access hobby sites without supervision?_

_A: 20_

_20. Q: At what age is a citizen allowed to have an independent non-training profile in an immersion game?_

_A: 20_

_21. Q: At what maximum age can a person start training for a lifetime career?_

_A: 17_

The teacher pressed a buzzer. "This is not an open book test, Richard."

Penny chuckled and tapped a box on the tablet to signify that she was done. As the test transferred to the teacher's desk, she got out of her desk and stretched. The wall in front of her was made up of a single screen. On the other walls were shelves of school supplies, books, and tools. In the room itself, there was only one school desk. It had a tablet for writing as well as a compartment for anything she might be using in a lesson. On the large screen, there was an image of a meadow in the center, a default image for testing periods. A picture of her teacher was on the top center part of the screen, while pictures of her classmates were in a ring around the edge.

Noting others getting done with the test, Penny dropped back into her seat and tapped that she wanted to send a note. She picked her friend Kelsey and used the stylus to write, 'That test was soooo easy. Boring!'

The screen showed Kelsey's miniature pic looking at the note, then frowning. She sent a note back, 'For you maybe (sniffle). I don't know if I got six and eighteen right. I mean, why would there be an area without a conflict mediator?'

'I dunno, but the law book says if there isn't a mediator, most people can't go there. So there must be areas without a mediator. I wonder if I could get into those places.'

'Why would you? You might get into a fight.'

'I'd go there just to go there.' She thought, then added, 'Ugh, I wish school was like the one my ES character goes to. She had a really challenging test yesterday, about runology and science and stuff.'

'I do not want it to be like the one my ES character goes too! It's just horrible.'

Penny continued chatting with those who were done with the test until it was over. "Okay, that's the end of class for today," the teacher said. "Your next test is mathematics, so be sure to study."

"Yes m'am," she said, along with most of her classmates. The class connection then broke off, leaving the room dark for a moment. The lights kicked on, softly so it didn't hurt the eyes.

Now that it was done, she left and went to the living room. "Mom, I'm done with class now."

"Oh, good timing," Nancy said putting down her reading tablet. "Your father is already in the Eternal Sphere; we could be meeting up again shortly."

Penny grinned. "Right! Cause Bowman gets back from Cross. Are you gonna log in now?"

"I was just waiting on you. Let's go."

As her father was already immersed and unable to notice them come in, Penny dropped into the chair she always used and brought the screen forward. She had a dependent account, so her menu looked slightly different than others.

_Planet-Expel_

_Character- Precis Nuemann_

_Style- game training character_

_Quest status- None_

_Training Guardians_

_(1) Bowman Jeane (Jeb), business sim/life sim/adventure_

_(2) Nineh Jeane (Nancy), life sim/business sim_

_Guardian (1) is logged in. Play as Precis?_

Of course.

* * *

-Precis, Linga, Nuemann home

The room was packed with pieces of metal, mysterious gadgets, and strange machines. In the midst of that mess, a teenaged girl was sitting on the floor to work on one. She brushed some of her orange hair out of her eyes, leaving another grease mark across her forehead. But that didn't matter now. If this worked like she wanted, it was worth any mess.

Okay, that was done. That just left testing the device. She picked up a smaller device that was hooked up to the other with a gray cord. The small device had several buttons and was shaped in such a way that it was easy to operate with both hands. By her design, this was a controller for the machine she had just finished. Well, finished this stage of. She pressed one of the buttons, then shifted one of the control sticks.

On the other end of the wire, there was a metal box that served as the base for a robotic hand. As she shifted the control stick, the hand's joints flexed and moved. She smiled a bit, but that movement was just the basics. She pressed another button, followed by a second. The hand clenched into a fist, then punched the metal shelves nearby. After a loud clang, the shelves trembled. But not by a lot.

She'd made it work, though. She scrambled up and ran into the other room. "Dad, Dad, Dad! I made it work! I got my punching hand to punch!"

The long faced man at the table looked up from a device he was working on. "Oh, Precis? You're still working on that thing?"

"And I got it to work! Want to come see? It's not very strong yet, but now that I've got it working, I can see how it could work better so I can beef it up and…"

"Shouldn't you be out with your fellow teenagers and such? That's what most girls do, hang out with other girls." His mind obviously wasn't entirely on the conversation, as he was tapping a tool on the table.

Precis fumed. "But Dad! I got it to work; don't you want to see?"

"I'm concerned about your future…"

"Yeah right!" She stormed back into the garage. "Why've you got to be such a stubborn geezer, old man?"

A small spherical machine crept out from a cat door in the side of the garage. It was painted blue, but it had a simple face with glowing yellow eyes and a line that functioned as a speaker. "Bo?"

"Hi Bobot," Precis said, without much enthusiasm. "I got my hand machine to punch, but he wouldn't come see it. He's asking why I'm not hanging out with the other girls in town. But that's not my fault. They all think I'm a freak." She sniffed before she caught it, so rubbed her nose. "Oh, but I'm not gonna be a crybaby about it."

Bobot walked over to the hand machine and poked it. "Bo?"

"Yeah, it works now. Watch." She picked up the controller and made it punch the shelving unit again. "Not very strong, but I think I've got the motion right."

Whistling, the round robot backed up, then opened up a slot to shoot confetti. "Bo bo!"

Precis smiled. "Thanks Bobot. At least you appreciate my work. Well you just watch. Eventually I'm gonna make something so impressive that the old man and everybody will be all jealous. Let's go try it out at other things."

Grabbing a backpack off the shelf, she placed the box inside. It took up much of the room in there, but there were many other pockets for small supplies. In those pockets, there were a few snack bags, a pair of binoculars, a small field herb guide, and a compass. It would make a good adventuring pack, whenever she got around to adventuring. She put that backpack on; it was kind of heavy.

"I guess I have to build up my strength for this," she said, then left the house.

Around the side, there were mismatched piles of crates that she normally climbed on top of. Today, she operated the hand to extend up and grab hold of the edge of the roof. Then she retracted the hand in such a way that it pulled her up. The backpack's straps dug into her underarms, which was uncomfortable. Maybe she should design a harness before doing this too frequently. She had the hand drop her onto the tallest stack of crates, from which she could climb onto the roof easily.

The Nuemann house was one of the taller buildings in Linga, so Precis had a good view over everything. Around her home was an assortment of pharmacies, houses, and artist studios. A wooded area ringed much of the town, but not nearly thick enough to be called a forest. Up north, there was a small river which connected to a lake, which in turn led into the mountains; this river had supported Linga for the entirety of the town's history. Past the river, there was the tallest and largest building around, the Linga University. Near it was the smaller school building which the children of Linga attended.

Precis took a few university classes alongside her normal schooling, though. It was the end of spring term, but she hadn't yet signed up for a summer course. This year, she was thinking of taking some time to explore the countryside and fully test her machines. Machines were good, but she had to know that they would work in any setting. Those machines helped people the best.

Being up here helped her think clearly, she always felt. That, and her old man couldn't follow her up here. He kept trying to encourage her to do normal things a girl her age did. But then, she was sixteen. At sixteen, most girls around here were preparing to get married and raise a family. She didn't feel ready for that. Besides, the guys around Linga were intimidated by a smart girl. That's what she told herself often.

Bobot paced around the rooftop with her. The little machine hadn't been built by either Precis or her father. However, she had done some repair work on him, after studying his design along with other machines near where they found him. Bobot seemed to have a mind of his own, but he most often followed Precis around like a strange metallic puppy. She liked that about him and let him tag along wherever she was going. Plus, he didn't have all the messes or needs of a real puppy.

He whistled and pointed to the entrance of town. Precis paused in her thinking to look over. "Huh? Do you see something? Hang on." She grabbed her binoculars and zoomed in on the road leading up to Linga.

Coming towards town, there was a cart drawn by one brown horse. There was just one man on the cart, a brown-haired man with a green shirt. Grinning, Precis put her binoculars up.

"He's back! Come on, Bobot, let's go!"

After getting a squeal for a reply, Precis ran off her roof and jumped over to a neighbor's roof, then over onto the roof of the skills guild. There, she clambered onto the entryway gate of Linga and trotted across that. The wooden sign was only a few inches wide, but she had run across it many times without falling. From there, she could jump down onto the inn's patio.

Precis kept going, jumping out from the patio onto a tree branch. Then it was hopping around carefully from one branch to another, crossing trees that grew closely together. After eight or so trees, a white building appeared. It was another pharmacy, but it was the best one in town. She scrambled onto the patio here, then ran around the living quarters, down the stairs, around the corner, and into the building. There was no one at first glance. "NINEH!"

There were rows of shelves, holding a great many compounds, potions, medicines, alchemy supplies, and dried herbs. It was a bright and clean building; in back, there were examination rooms if necessary to help the patient. From behind the shelves, a woman in a long dress came out. "I'm here, Precis," she said calmly. "What is it?"

Skipping forward, she grinned. "Bowman's back! I saw him coming down the road. Come on, we can go meet him at the gate!"

The door came open again as Bobot finally caught up. He squeaked.

Nineh smiled. "Oh good. But dear, you've been working hard, haven't you." She touched the girl's forehead. "You're all coated in grease."

"I am not," Precis insisted, but she didn't speak quite as harshly here. "Well, maybe just a bit."

"Well you ought to clean off that bit first. Go on, use our backroom, then we'll go out to meet with him."

"Okay, if I have to." She went into the washroom to clean up her hands and forehead. She wasn't sure why, but she could deal with Nineh's nagging more than her father's. Maybe because the Jeanes always showed interest in whatever she was talking about

* * *

-Bowman, outside Linga

He whistled as the cart approached his hometown. Traveling was great, but he always loved the feeling he got when he was coming home again. Admittingly, his wife would prefer him to stay at home, but his skills were often needed in other places.

As the town gate appeared, he saw two people waiting for him. Bowman smiled. It was getting harder to return unexpectedly. He waved to them as he signaled the horse to slow to a stop. "Good afternoon Nineh, Precis."

"Good afternoon, Bowman," the girl called excitedly, hopping up on her toes. She was wearing a backpack today. Maybe she really was going to try her hand at adventuring next. If so, she'd probably try to get taken along on his next trip.

"Welcome back, honey," Nineh said. She got up on the driver's bench beside him and gave him a kiss. "How'd your trip go?"

He put his arm around her shoulders. "It's wonderful to see you again. This one was a success, I'm happy to say. The girl made a blessedly quick recovery. Some power other than my knowledge had a hand in it, I'm sure."

"That's great." She nudged him. "I think Precis has something she's wanted to ask you."

"Is that so?" He looked down to the teenager, who had come next to the cart, but hadn't climbed on yet. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm working on this awesome machine," Precis said. She grabbed some strange gray controller and pressed a few buttons. A mechanical metal hand popped out of her backpack and waved. "Cool, huh? I studied those biology book diagrams to make it."

He leaned over and grasped the hand in his. "Looks quite accurate. Nice work."

She grinned. "Thanks. But see, I thought I could use it as a punching device to fight off monsters; it's got a longer reach than people do. It's not that strong yet, though. So I thought, may I buy one of your old glove weapons, Bowman? I want to study it and see if I can adapt it to this hand. It won't fit me, I know, but I think I can adapt one to this machine. I'll pay a fair price for it."

To check, he compared his hand against the mechanical one. "It could fit. But you should be careful with it. I don't want to hear that you punched yourself in the head with this." He smiled at her.

Precis laughed. "I won't! That would hurt."

"I do have an extra pair here that I picked up on this trip. Hang on." He passed the reins to Nineh, then hopped in the cart to dig through one of his bags. Amongst many of his tools, there was a pair of brown battle gloves. "This should fit your purpose. I'll let them go at 800 fol."

"I've got that." She reached into the backpack and, after some shuffling, came up with the exact amount. "There you go."

"All right, then here are the gloves." He handed them off.

"Okay. Thanks so much! I'll make good use of them. Bye, I'll talk to you later!" She then rushed off for her house, most likely to work on her device.

Bowman got back onto the bench as Nineh started the horse back to their home. "Nice to know she's thinking about more than just boys, unlike the other girls her age."

"I don't think she considers the boys at all," Nineh said. "I hope she still finds that someone special, though."

"She certainly seems happy enough."

"Mmmhmm." She then patted his shoulder. "Oh, and honey? I've got some news for you. You'll want to be staying home for a while now."

"I will?" He made an expression of mock horror. "Am I in trouble? I'll swear that I've been true and loyal this whole time, even on pain of being burned."

She laughed. "I don't doubt you. Not yet anyhow."

"Not yet? Hoo boy, I've got to be careful." He smiled and gripped her arm. "So what is it?"

"It's a secret," she told him quietly. Then she smiled and poked his shoulder. "I'll let you know later."

Bowman grinned. "You tease. But I still love you, honey."

"I love you too, sugar."

* * *

-Opera, Mountain Palace

For the past few days, Opera, Ashton, Claude, and Rena had been exploring the Mountain Palace. Considering this was an underdeveloped planet, this place was a sturdy fort. Its location inside a mountain might even protect it against more advanced weapons technology. The country wasn't in a war now, though, so this place was pretty much abandoned to the monsters. In this guarded setting, they thrived as well.

Opera was managing well. Her pulse rifle normally depended on hydrogen plasma bolts; its ammo energy could be pulled from the air or water given a few minutes without use. With various program disks, those bolts could be modified into other kinds of energy, like electrical or symbological. And when a weapon used the energy of symbology, then its user could make it do darn near anything, provided the right runes were in the program.

Being on this planet, she had limited much of its abilities. Its current programming did not fire bolts. Instead, it wrapped the barrel of the gun in an invisible plasma field. She had to be careful handling it this way, as it could burn her skin horribly if she touched the wrong part when the trigger was held. Combining that plasma burn with the blunt force of a club, the pulse rifle made a fairly decent melee weapon.

Her fellow travelers were doing well too. Claude must have taken the Basic Combats Arts in his Pangalactic military training, as the young man from a technologically advanced civilization was quite talented with his low technology long sword. And Rena, she was skilled at symbology, called heraldry on this planet. Not only did she have apparently non-existent (for this planet) healing spells, she was handy with light and gravity spells as well. Then there was Ashton.

Watching him, Opera could tell that he was an experienced and highly skilled swordsman. Handling two blades and heraldry at the same time must have taken considerable training. Almost as much as Claude would have, even though Ashton was a few years younger than him. However, Ashton seemed to be having great difficulty the past few days. The dragons were supposedly insubstantial; that was the explanation he gave for how they could not affect his clothing. They still managed to mess with his sense of balance. And, it seemed that the possession had changed Ashton's native elements.

Like just now, Ashton had attempted this fast moving move that involved holding one blade at the shoulder, while the other was at his knee, then slashing at the enemy. His start had been quite graceful. But he utterly failed to call on the move's crest. This caused him to trip and fall on his own blades. Rena was using her healing spells to keep him from bleeding to death.

"I'm sorry," Ashton said, checking on his cut shoulder. "I haven't made a mistake like that since I was a kid."

"Your magic has really changed, I suppose," Rena said. "What were you trying to do?"

He sighed. "Lightning Strike. It was one of my best, but… looks like I'm locked out of most of my skills now. I'll have to figure out what I can do with these elements." He looked at the backs of his hands. They had odd tattoos on them. On this world, that seemed to be the way to gain magic.

"You still have that nice teleporting move," Claude pointed out. "That's really coming in handy around here, so we can surround the monsters instead of being surrounded."

"There is that. It doesn't seem as powerful as before. I don't have access to any of the reference books, though. Trial and error learning is going to be rough."

"Why don't you ask Gyoro and Ururun how to use their powers?" Rena pointed out.

"Keeheehee," the red one, Gyoro, snickered.

Ashton gave it a hostile look. "They're not being that helpful. And I don't need an internal snarky commentary going on for every conversation."

"So why don't you try using an exorcism on them?" Opera asked. She had been wondering why he didn't seem interested in that. If she had been possessed by dragons, she would want to be rid of them.

"Well…" he hesitated, then glared at Gyoro again. "A little while back, I was with another group of travelers trying to heal a little girl from the white death. We were having trouble finding the right healing herbs. I ended up meeting the phoenix of Lasguss Mountains and making a deal with him to save her. But in order to do that, I ended up possessed with these dragons. So now I'm stuck with these two for a year. If I try an exorcism before that year is up, well… it won't end well."

"I'd imagine so," Rena said. "The Lasguss phoenix toys with people. I've heard it never does anything benevolent unless it can trouble people more than it helps."

Ashton nodded. "I know that now. Still… I think it'll be worth it. The girl made a miraculous recovery."

"That's good. You should be okay for fighting now. Just try to stick to the basic moves so you don't get like this again."

"Sure thing, Rena."

After traveling down yet another tunnel, they found something interesting. There was a passageway that seemed to have been blocked at one time. However, there was now a mass of rubble that stood right before a staircase. Opera picked up one of the pieces of stone, noticing something odd about it. There was a glaze on one part, scorches on another. It was as if it had been hit with a high heat blast. Although she wasn't learned about this world's symbology, it looked suspiciously like advanced weaponry. She showed it to Claude, who noticed the same.

"I think fire symbology is pretty common here," he said quietly. "But this looks too refined."

"It's hard to tell without equipment," Opera replied, turning the chunk of rock over in her hands. "But I know he carries a small arms demolition gun in case of sealed ruins. This damage is quite familiar to me." She tossed the rock back onto the pile of rubble. "But this is from some time ago. It only suggests that he may have been here before, not that he's here now."

A call came from down the stairs. "Hey, are you two coming?" Rena called.

"Right, sorry," Opera called back. They went down the stairs. "Anything interesting?"

"The doors are different," Ashton said, pointing to one. It was made up of metal plates riveted together. For a moment, she was impressed. But then he went on, "Magic crafted doors, made so tough that even the strongest of magic can't break them. Easily, anyhow. This may be the housing quarters for the royal family."

"Ah." Opera winked at the others. "So we may not want to take just anything that we find here."

Rena laughed. "Right, we shouldn't."

This area of the palace was quieter than above, save for the crackling magic torches. The halls also had suits of armor periodically placed along the walls. Perhaps that kept the monsters from roaming down here. They found more evidence that it was the housing quarters as Ashton suspected. There were rooms off the halls with untouched furnishings. One room had old flags of Cross along the walls and a large table with many chairs around it. Another had a great many beds along with protection magic. It was all inactive for now, so they could freely come in and explore.

And down another flight of steps, they found a study. It sent mixed messages. Along with a bookshelf half full of books and a desk with globe, map, and pencils, there was also an iron maiden and an ominous looking device hanging over the bed. There was also a fairly new document in there. It had a number of sprawling notes on it, documenting various ruins around Expel. One was underlined: Hoffman Ruins.

"This looks like Ernest's handwriting," Opera said, picking the paper up. "He made some notes about this Hoffman Ruins."

"Isn't that a very dangerous place?" Rena asked.

"What's dangerous about it?" Claude asked her.

"It was a mine at one point, as it has a high concentration of Energy Stone material. But that was in ancient times, before they knew how to control its power. That civilization got wiped out, then another build a temple over the entrance of the mine. It's been used as a mine again, I think."

"It was a big issue between Lacour and Eluria many years ago," Ashton said. "When people discovered how to properly refine Energy Stone, both countries fought over Hoffman Isle, which lies between them. But when Lacour and Cross became allies, it was decided to leave it as neutral territory. The town that had been there was disbanded. But it was still an issue that could have led to war if one or the other tried to stake a claim to the mine. Even so, it would be a hard place to get permission to enter."

"So he might be in Lacour trying to get that permission," Opera mused.

"We're heading there anyhow, so why don't you stick with us?" Rena said. "That is, after the royal wedding."

"Yes, that."

* * *

_Bowman and Precis are mutually exclusive characters, so they don't get many chances to interact in-game. But it seems reasonable that they would know each other, at least as acquaintances. Nineh, well there's not much character to her other than being Bowman's wife. Although, given that he has some PAs about checking out women and giving romantic advice, she has to be someone special to keep him in check, lol.  
_

_If you follow the quests for Ashton and Opera, and definitely if you're after Ernest, you'll end up exploring the optional dungeon Mountain Palace. But even if it is optional, it's a good idea to go in there. A few of the treasures could come in handy and the experience is good at the time you get access to it. There's two bosses, but you only have to face one. Ashton's exorcism quest will have you facing a succubus-like creature, while Opera's search for Ernest will have you fight a pair of large beasts. But, well, I didn't have much of a reason to use either boss fight..._


	13. Sacred Vows

**Chapter 13: Sacred Vows**

-Opera, Cross Castle

This really had nothing to do with her mission, Opera thought. It didn't even have anything to do with Claude and Rena's mission. Mostly, it was just a waste of a day. But then, this backwoods planet was limited in travel. Most of the days were spent in travel, making everything take up more time. Then she also had to consider that this event was a royal wedding on a planet where royalty still held the vast majority of power. Even if weddings on her own planet could out-extravagant this one easily, it was something she would likely never see again. So she sat in the pew and enjoyed the spectacle.

They were gathered in an old cathedral of Cross Castle City. It was a large space; even so, it was packed. If it had been herself, Opera wouldn't have gotten in. But it seemed that Rena and Claude were friends of the bride, Celine. She had gotten them seats in here. Although, since she also invited her family and other dignitaries of her hometown, those seats were in the very back. Still, the space was designed in such a way that they could hear clearly even without sound equipment.

Next to Opera, Ashton was trying to keep the two dragon heads down, but one or the other would pop up over the crowd to check things out. The group had graciously let Rena sit at the aisle; she was short for her age, so she could see better there. Opera was somewhat taller than most of the planet's natives. Not enough to be strange, but enough that she could see decently.

Up front, the cardinal of the church was giving a rather lengthy wedding address. The bride and the groom both wore white. Prince Clothier wore a fur-trimmed cloak and a gold crown. Beside him, Celine wore a long dress decorated with white roses. At the end, they exchanged vows much like those on other planets. Ideas like that carried across civilizations; Opera's studies had been on those similarities. They swore to love each other, only each other, for the rest of their joined lives, despite anything bad that may come their way. Then the cardinal affirmed their bond in the name of Expel's god.

The ceremony deviated some after this, but due to social position, not sociology. The King then came up to the front and had Celine swear a second oath, of loyalty and service to the country. Then, the King blessed her and gave her a crown signifying her new position as Crown Princess of Cross. Only after that did the cardinal present the couple, the heirs to the throne of Cross, to the witnesses in the cathedral.

For some reason, Opera found that the ceremony made her feel sad and lonely. Why was that? Maybe it made her miss Ernest all the more. Although she loved him (and had managed to make claim on him over her sister Opal), Ernest wasn't an easy man to tie down. Not even his university job could keep him home. She wished she could marry her beloved.

* * *

-Ashton, Cross Castle ballroom

An hour after the ceremony, there was a celebration in the ballroom of Cross Castle. Ashton kept out of most of the crowd; there were too many inquisitive or suspicious looks given to him. Still, he didn't get to eat like this much since he started living on the road. He ate a few cookies and watched the activities.

Celine was dancing with the Prince; they seemed to be happily off in their own world, barely acknowledging anyone who talked to them. They were lucky, he thought, to have married deeply in love. In his experience, most marriages happened for practical reasons and the pair just hoped to come into love in time. Like his parents. It had worked out, but it had been arranged. If they were alive, he thought sadly, they'd probably be looking for a wife for him. Not immediately, but in the near future.

Near him, Claude and Rena were talking happily with each other, and anyone who happened to come by. It was interesting watching them, Ashton thought. They were sincerely kind and people could see that. In response, people were attracted to them as good people. Maybe he had been drawn to them for the same reasons.

"Oh, why don't you want to?" Rena teased Claude, playfully patting him.

Claude pushed his hair back and smiled sheepishly. "I don't really know how to dance like that."

"But you ought to be good at it. Although, I only know countryside dances myself, not these waltzes and nobility pastimes."

"It is different," he replied, looking over the crowd.

"It's different from country to country as well," Ashton commented. "You can see it in how Rozelia and the Lacour nobles don't move the same as the Cross nobles."

After a moment, Rena said, "You're right about that."

"Hey, you," a drunk man said, looking at Ashton. "Are you a dragon? Dragons aren't supposed to be in here."

"I'm just possessed by dragons, that's all," Ashton said, trying not to blush.

_Let's eat him,_ Gyoro said with a low growl that came out of Ashton's throat.

_No, let's not, _ he countered. _That's gross._

The fire dragon head snorted. _How do you know, ******? You've never eaten a human before._

"It's not right," the drunk said.

"Excuse me," a castle guard said, grabbing the drunk's shoulder. "Let's go home now. Sorry about him bothering you."

"Thanks for getting rid of him," Ashton replied.

_He seems like he could have a good meat to fat ratio on him,_ Ururun commented. _He'd be tasty slow roasted._

_Mmm, slow roasted human, _Gyoro said.

Ashton rubbed his forehead. _That's nasty! I'm not eating another human, no matter what you say!_

The ice dragon head whined. _Well can we go back to Salva Drift now? I'm homesick._

_And the ***** lack of Energy Stone around here is awful,_ Gyoro grumbled. _It'll weaken us eventually._

_It also drives living creatures insane._ Ashton paused. _Which may account for you two trying to convince me into cannibalism._

_He was a******* jerk. Jerks deserved to be eaten._

_And not always as jerky. Although, jerky is good too. Mmm, jerky._

_If it's not human jerky._

"You okay, Ashton?" Rena asked in concern. "You seem a little pale."

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just be glad you can't hear these two arguing."

_Wuss._

On hearing a pair of heels, he looked up to see Celine coming toward them. "How are you doing this evening, darlings?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Just great," Rena said, smiling. "I'm trying to talk Claude into dancing, but neither of us really knows these court dances."

She gave an amused laugh. "It's not that hard; I could help if you'd like. But first, I'd like to make a request of you. Remember this?" She held out an old leather bound book that she had brought over.

Claude and Rena nodded. "Yeah, that's the book you picked up in Cross Cave," Claude said. "Did anyone in Mars know how to translate it?"

She shook her head. "No, they can't read it. But one of the elders recognized the language, an older form of Laguine. He said that there's a professor in Linga who could translate it. However, I must stay here in Cross for now. I have to learn to be a queen, you know. You're headed to the Lacour continent, so would you mind dropping this off at Linga? I've written a letter explaining the situation; it's here on the inside cover."

"Linga's a bit off our path," Rena pointed out. "We'll be going to the castle from Hilton and that town is in south Lacour."

"I think you'll have time," Celine said, glancing over at the collected nobles. "King Lacour was at the wedding, but his entourage has left already. Summer is the time for the Lacour Tournament of Arms; between that and other business, I doubt you'll be able to get an audience with him until after the tournament."

"Oh right, there is that," Rena said. "I'd forgotten about it. That's too bad. But if that's the case, then it would be no trouble to stop by Linga for a day or two."

"We'll take it for you," Claude added, accepting the book from her.

She nodded. "Thank you, darlings. I know I can trust you both with this." Then she chuckled. "So how about I teach you two to waltz?"

"Oh, well," Claude said, scratching his head and blushing.

Rena laughed and took his arm. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"Okay, okay. I'll try." He handed the book to Ashton. "Mind holding onto this for now?"

"No problem," he replied, taking it. While they went off to the dance floor, Ashton opened the book and looked at a drawing of an island with some description. It was quickly apparent that he couldn't make sense of it. "Do you two know this language?" he asked, curious.

Gyoro snorted. _What, you expect a pair of badass dragons to be ******* literate?_

_No,_ Ururun added.

"Oh. Well, thought I'd ask."

* * *

-chat room, 4D

_This chat room has been reserved for a non-celebration of the marriage of Prince Clothier T. Cross and Celine Jules of the planet Expel. It is a non-celebration because the player C.J. has lost all control of her character Celine in this wedding. If you wish to celebrate this marriage, please take it elsewhere._

C.J.: Thanks for setting this up for me.

Jeb: No problem. It's all in support of you.

Ashe: Of course.

(Dano has entered the chat room)

Penny: It's such a weird restriction too.

(Enlo has entered the chat room)

Ashe: And we couldn't really call it a character wake…

Enlo: Hey, I was going to say congrats on the wedding, but what's with the non-celebration status?

C.J.: Hi there. I've got a health network restriction on my account right now, apparently due to the vague reason of boredom.

Penny: Yeah, why would they restrict the activities you participate in when you're bored in other things?

Penny: It's just stupid.

Nancy: There's a full topic on this boredom restriction here. Other players have been restricted as well.

Jeb: I tried to add the link to the room description, but it wouldn't let me for some reason.

Enlo: I'd heard about that restricting of older players. So is it really true that your in-game luck goes up when this kind of restriction comes down?

C.J.: I can't say for sure; I'm not a programming reader, after all.

Dano: She was playing a dating sim that should have taken longer, but then she got proposed to quickly.

Dano: And sorry about your character loss, C.J.

C.J.: Thanks Dano. Well there was the whole deal with Clothier's arranged political marriage to Rozelia. But usually, romantic drama tends to make that kind of breakup right at the last minute, or at the wedding itself. This time, he told me a month before the scheduled wedding.

Ashe: And the wedding happened almost two weeks earlier than the scheduled arranged wedding.

C.J.: That and his intended bride Rozelia was happy to accept the marriage of the Prince and Celine. So it seems awful suspicious.

Enlo: Ah right, that does.

C.J.: Not only that, but my other character was thinking quite strongly of settling down herself when she finds her boyfriend.

Jeb: We suspect that the only thing that will keep the restriction from hitting that character too is because I own the boyfriend.

Nancy: I find it especially disturbing about the suggestions that they're doing this to force a start-over for you, even for people like us who want children. I know they want to keep the population level constant, but that's horrible.

C.J.: I know! Why can't they just build another place like 4D? We live in a big universe too. And it would help give jobs to more people.

Penny: like mechanics, like me! I hope… (crosses fingers)

Ashe: Should we have a mourning song like a character wake? (grins jokingly, but does have his music files open)

C.J.: (chuckles) Of course you would already have music at hand. I do too actually. I'm trying to find one I think is appropriate.

Ashe: Well you get first play then.

Enlo: I see. Well sorry to hear about that happening to you. It's got me more curious into this phenomenon.

C.J.: Well thank you Enlo. Always nice to have a sympathetic stranger drop in.

Enlo: I know. You're welcome.

(Enlo has left the chat room)

Dano: He's a fairly prestigious player on Expel too, but I think he plays on the Lacour continent.

C.J.: Really? At least my age earns me some respect even from those of higher prestige.

Ashe: Of course! You've always helped everybody, so even if your prestige isn't as high, most everybody likes you.

C.J.: Thanks, but I know you're my biggest fanboy.

Ashe: Does that make my support any less significant? (blushes)

C.J.: Of course not, darling. Oh, I think I've got a song.

* * *

-Enlo, 4D

Enlo leaned back in his office chair. It was posh, made of black leather. Imitation synthetic leather, of course. There was no way to get the real thing around here, even if the scientists could prove that the material was atomically identical to masterfully-crafted leather. There was also no denying that it had been synthesized. "Butler, get me some coffee, the darker version."

"Righto, captain." It soon gave him a mug of steaming hot black coffee.

"Thank you." Then he looked over the security cracking progress. He could just leave his programs to run automatically. But then, there was always that sense of doubt. He had to watch as his programs got around the Eternal Sphere's security system. The company programmers were no slackers and they worked just as hard as he did in working against them. If something changed and they could notice him, he wanted to know immediately.

Then the coding went green. He'd gotten in. Shifting around, he was able to look into the statistics that ran the character of Celine Jules. Not only that, but he could also look at the statistical history and see what changes had occurred.

He had no reason to do this. He didn't really know the player C.J. . Sure, he knew of her reputation. She was one who was more absorbed in having fun than in having maxed out high prestige characters. Still, she offered good guidance to many of the younger players, often acting as an in-game guardian to more than just her own children and grandchildren. And there would be no direct benefit for him if he did anything to help her. No… he was just curious about this situation.

His programs kept tabs on popular discussion topics, search phrases, and help seeking. These gave him a good overview of what other players were interested in, worried about, or annoyed with. Knowing that, he could make subtle hacks, things that players would accept without question. If a hack became popular enough, the company would be obliged to keep it active when they discovered it. Obliged, although they didn't always keep his programs. They had a harder time tracking down a poke hack than a blunt hack.

Lately, he'd been getting notices that older players were getting bullied into starting over their lives, not just their games. It was something that happened due to the need for population control. But in the past year, it seemed that the medical network had gotten into handing out game restrictions with less restraint to players above a certain age bracket. As Enlo wanted more solid proof before attempting to hack into the more sensitive medical network, he had decided to check into some of these lost characters.

And Celine Jules was a good case study, since C.J. didn't focus on stat growth. The circumstances were hard to prove. Even the Sphere Company could not rewrite such a specific bit of history, with 'Chris' being the Prince of Cross, with an arranged marriage shortly due, all in order to cut off one character from one player. It was all happening on its own. Besides, this programming showed no signs of time travel editing.

Looking on the luck array, there was something suspicious. Luck was broken up into several different stats, with total being made based of several calculations which were changed based on circumstances. C.J. had been playing a dating sim… the luck stats that most contributed to that were the personal, social, and whimsical lucks. Celine's luck numbers in those categories were noticeably high. Not only that, but the luck calculation that was active was the most forgiving of the lot, skewing her to more good luck than bad. Her other social and charismatic stats were also high.

All Enlo had to do now was review statistical history and see if there was a point where those stats made sudden jumps with no discernible reason. But that was going to take a very long time. Making a snapshot save of Celine's current stats, he dove into the programming history.

* * *

-Ashton, Cross Castle City inn

Dear Eleanor:

I may be seeing you in a few days. I've joined a group that's going to be investigating the Sorcery Globe, to see if we can stop the problems it's causing in the world. I met a pair of travelers named Claude and Rena that are doing so on behalf of the Cross King. They were going to leave from Clik, but then that port got destroyed. We'll be heading to Lacour next to see if they'll lend us a ship to get to Eluria, which means we'll be passing through Herlie on the way. I'll be sure to drop by to see you.

I had a strange thing happen to me. In Mars, I heard of a demon dragon that was causing trouble in Salva Drift. Thinking I could help, I went down there to check things out. I did fight the dragon, but in a twist, it ended up possessing me. So now I've got a two-headed dragon that hangs onto me all the time. It's been tough getting used to their presence and my shift in magic, but I've been told something good will happen if I put up with them for a year. I've been able to make them behave, mostly, so I think I can do that.

My fellow travelers are interesting and I think you would like them. Claude is a swordsman too, but he only uses one blade. He's quite good at it and he's easy to talk to. But he doesn't talk a lot about his past; I suppose if one doesn't wish to, we shouldn't bother them. Rena is a nice girl and cares about everybody. She has a really unusual power of healing, which makes her a big help on adventures. And even without them, she is strong enough with magic to take care of herself.

Then there's Opera, who's an odd woman. She's nice too, but there's something very foreign about her. And it's not even that he has three eyes. Remember how we talked about Ernest? It turns out that Opera is looking for him. It makes sense, since they must be from the same village. We all team up well, so I shouldn't really complain.

I hope you're feeling better, and that we have time to talk when I get to Herlie.

Sincerely,

Ashton

* * *

-Enlo, 4D

Well that was one analysis done, Enlo thought as he arranged the snapshots of the Celine character. There was definite proof of recent hacking done. This was the first time he had run into government sanctioned hacking, though. Or maybe not. It was dismal to think so, but the leaders of 4D might be manipulating things to keep the populace controlled and contented. Everything was computerized, after all. No one would really notice.

But if someone did… Enlo worried about how the government might react to his investigation. They could flip the situation and claim he was hacking into these characters' data files. Which he was, but he was being careful to document dates, times, and anything else that might prove he did not tamper with the data itself. But the public deserved to know about this injustice. It went against the foundation of 4D society, for the protection of all. Not the sacrifice of some.

Thinking of taking a break, he checked on Leon. The kid was finally out from under that Incredibly Inspired effect. He'd have to stop working too, so it might be a decent time to log in.

* * *

-Leon, Lacour Castle, bridge

He was burnt out. There was no other way to describe it and make it sound better. After a week and a half of constant work, Leon had to take a break. Even his father couldn't deny that.

Standing on the stone bridge that led from the city to the castle proper, Leon watched the moat water ripple. Over in the distance, a servant girl was drawing water to purify, then use in the kitchen. There were some fishermen on the other dock, hoping to catch some dinner and maybe an extra to sell. The castle moat was clean enough to do so, he reflected. He'd read of other towns where it wasn't safe to use city waters because everyone dumped things there. Lacour had new systems for handling waste, including his father's toilet and a system that produced power from burning trash. Because of that, everyone could use the water without thinking twice. Funny, how advancements led to simple things that people took for granted.

Leon put his arms on the wall and rested his head there. It was kind of strange now. After that flurry of thoughts that had been in his mind lately, he couldn't focus on any one thing. He couldn't even bring himself up to casting a simple spell. He had been irritated when his mother kept asking him to take a break before. Maybe he should have.

But the product of all that activity, that could be worth it. He had a weapon design now that was very promising. Using his discovery with enclosed vacuum spells, his weapon could, with one user, produce a blast strong enough to obliterate an enemy city. Theoretically, of course. All they had were the small scale tests to go by. They'd have to convince the king soon of its potential.

That wouldn't happen soon. In a short time, the Tournament of Arms would take place. Leon twisted his ears back in annoyance. Every year, it was such an annoyance. The whole city… no, the whole continent would be talking nonstop about the battles, the smaller scale Lacourian weapons, and all that primitive nonsense. It was already all around him, even here on the bridge.

"There's a rumor that Dias Flac will be entering this year's tournament," a man said as he walked out of the castle.

"Who's that?" his friend asked.

"A young swordsman from Cross, said to be the strongest one not in that country's army. It's said that he can defeat a giant with one blow."

"Seriously? That shouldn't be possible."

"But Master Flac is that strong. I tell you, he's a sure bet even if he is new."

"That doesn't beat experience."

"Always the same," Leon grumbled. "No matter who it is. I don't see what's so fascinating about watching people beat up each other to near death."

He watched the water for a while longer. Water was one of the spell elements that he liked. It could take on many forms and practical uses. And when he felt bad, he usually found it good to stand and watch the water like this.

A shout from the other end of the bridge distracted him. It was followed by several cheers from a group of kids. They had stripped down for a swim in the moat. "Don't let any fish bite your toes!" one girl called, even though she was already in the water.

"They won't do that," a boy insisted. "Because I'm the monstrous flesh-eating blue dolphin and I'm coming to kill you!"

The other kids shrieked merrily and swam away from him. "Blue dolphins eat fish and kelp," Leon said, although he was too far away for them to hear. "They can't eat human flesh."

Despite the inaccuracy, the kids seemed to be having a lot of fun. Leon felt jealous of them. How could they have such fun being so dumb? Other lab workers would just chuckle at them and say the kids had large imaginations. That was all well and good; Leon was fairly certain that he had a good imagination. But one had to restrain it and use it within the boundaries of real world science. Otherwise, it was just wasted on stupid play.

But they were having fun.

Some of the kids had managed to swim out closer to him. One boy noticed him. "Hey, it's that stuck-up shut-in Leon!" he shouted. "What're you up to, stuffy?" The others laughed.

Leon clenched his fists. "More important things that you'll ever do with your life," he called back.

"Hey, are you a demon fae child?" another called up, to the continued amusement of the group. "You don't look human."

"You don't know anything," he insisted, then walked away from the edge. "Peasants… somebody ought to educate them just so they aren't such dimwits."

As he walked back in, he took the tip of his tail in his hand. He did look odd, but that was perfectly explainable. They didn't have to go invoking such uncertainties as demons and fae in that. How could he be jealous of those dumb kids? They didn't care to learn anything! They'd just end up wasting their lives just like their parents: getting by but not improving anything at all. On the other hand, he knew about everything important; if there was something he didn't know, he could learn it easily or it wasn't necessary. And Leon was going to make a big difference in the world. He was going to save all of Lacour from the demons that had destroyed Eluria. Even those dumb kids.

But then why did he still feel like crying? "Don't be like them," he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes.

Leon went into the castle library. That was a good place. A room taller than it was wide, it was walled in by shelves, holding books of every subject imaginable. He considered picking up a new Water magic book to study. He seemed to think there were some he hadn't read yet.

Instead, he found two of his researchers discussing something. "Good to see you, Master Leon," Nicolas said. "Would you mind looking over something with us?"

"Not at all," he said, sitting at a chair at their table. "What is it?"

"Why do we need his opinion?" the other researcher asked. "He's a kid."

"I'm also your boss," Leon retorted, getting a sharp glare from him.

"He's responsible for most of the work on the Lacour Hope," Nicolus said, using the codename for his weapon. "We must keep him involved on every level. Anyhow, it's about the vacuum chambers. We've had terrible luck trying to find a material that can withstand the energy buildup and release."

"Right." Leon frowned. "I suspect some of the blacksmiths are giving us junk metals though. They're all focused on that silly tournament."

"It's not silly, it's an honored tradition."

Nicolus wisely ignored that subject, tapping the paper. "That could be, but we really need to solve this problem. But we may have been going about it the wrong way. The strongest materials may not be best. We also need to consider that this energy is purely magical in nature. Perhaps more than simple strength, we need a high resistance, especially to vacuum energy. Resistance to wind energy and heat would be advisable too."

"I see your point. Orichalcum is good for resistance. Maybe damascus steel."

"Energy Stone might work."

"Raw Energy Stone can resist nearly anything," Leon admitted. "We can't use that, though. It would drive the user and anyone else in the area insane. Refined Energy Stone might work, though. It won't be nearly as strong, but it could be the most resistant, strongest, and safest option."

Perhaps a new challenge was all he needed. Leon felt his thoughts stir back to life again.

* * *

-Enlo, 4D

Unfortunately, this short play hadn't been what he needed. "Tria, give me Leon's statuses."

"Leon is under the Incredibly Inspired status effect," the computer promptly told him.

Enlo swore under his breath. "Again? Tria, monitor him and inform me of any mental instability." He could fix such things before they started, but he had to catch them early.

"Will do."

* * *

_If you follow Celine's sidequest with Chris, then you will end up interrupting his and Rozelia's marriage. The PA even has the castle guards dragging him off beforehand. But she decides to stay with the group and come back to get married later, after the danger from the Sorcery Globe is over. I would've liked the option to convince her to stay with Chris, though. Or to have him join the party too; he could be interesting.  
_

_So our party for now is the impossible Claude, Rena, Ashton, and Opera._


End file.
